Dead Terra 2: Terra Salemdor
by AnarchyGunRage
Summary: Sequel to The Dead Terra. A murderous Screamer wants all magicals on Terra Salemdor destroyed. DAXOC FXOC CarverXOC sort of .STORY COMPLETE
1. The Warning

**Note from the Author:**

**This is the long awaited sequel to The Dead Terra. You will see some old characters from the last story like Vixxy, The Shade sisters, Keira Marie and Lily. You'll also meet some new ones such as Samara, Dark Ace and Keira Maries daughter, she was mentioned here and there in The Dead Terra. And alot more new characters. **

**I don't own the idea of Storm Hawks. Only some characters. **

**enjoy the second enactment of my Dead Terra series. **

**RD.**

**The Dead Terra 2: Terra Salemdor**

**Chapter One: The Warning**

_GunWitch Log:  
Two months have passed since Starshade, Nightshade, Moonshade and I joined the Storm Hawks, and I'll tell you that having Finn instead of some Talon as my Oracle(life partner) is so much fun. The Storm Hawks always go on these crazy aventures to save people and being beyond Terra Midoria has really been a treat for me. I have the Storm Hawks to thank, I know I say this every single day, but it's true...If fate never would have brought them to Midoria, then I'd probably still be there fighting demons. But nowadays, Midoria has its green fields and happy civilians back. Well, I have to, Aerrow just called a meeting and you never know what those things are about.  
Hecate guide me,  
Vixentina Ravenanna Dark._

Vixxy closed her purple book and left her room to get to the bridge for that meeting. She was the last one to get into the large room. She looked around at her new team mates, Aerrow, Piper, Junko, Finn (Vixxy's Oracle/Life partner (GunWitchesnever liked to use the term 'boyfriend')), Radarr and Moonshade were all sitting at the table at the bride. Stork, Starshade and Nightshade were all at the helm of the Condor, but it was very obvious they were listening.

"Okay everyone." Aerrow said and with a twist of fate, he added: "Stork called this meeting....What's going on, Stork?"

"Umm, We're running low on crystal energy..." Stork said. "We've been flying around for hours..."

"If we don't get stop somewhere and get some crystals fast, we have a one way ticket to the Wastelands..." Star and Night said together, forcing Aerrow to comment on how creepy it was when they talked together.

"We'll stop on Terra Salemdor." Piper said, looking at her map. "That's the closest...And also, acording to this map legend, Vixxy will be worshiped like a queen there...They're big on witches."

"Sounds good to me..." Vixxy said. "When will we be there?"

"If we keep at this pace, GunWitch, we'll be there in a few minutes." Stork said.

Vixxy went back into her room, sat down at her desk, opened up her jornal again and grabbed her black pen. She started to resume her scribbling.

_GunWitch Log:  
Stork says we're low on crystal energy, so we are going to stop at Terra Salemdor for a while. I've heard of Salemdor, the Sky Knight and her squadron are made up of witches like me, so they respect witches there. I'll have to have a look around.  
Star and Night told me all about Terra Salemdor, some people say they are both subdistic and can't be trusted, but I'd trust those amazing twins with my life. Star and Night are incredible, they're always finishing off eachothers sentances...Hey, it wouldn't suprise me if those twins were telpathic with eachother and Moon, their little sister...I didn't see her at the meeting. Stork. Being with him has made the twins so happy. _

_Oh, it looks like we just landed on the Terra. This should be fun. What could possibly go wrong?_

_VIXENTINA!_

Vixxy spun away from her book and looked around the empty room and hallway. Nobody was there but her and the voice that yelled at her didn't sound like Aerrow, Piper, Finn, or anybody she knew.

"H-Hello?" Vixxy wispered. "Is...Is there someone there?"

_Vixentina Ravenanna Dark_. The voice echoed again. It was a womans voice and it sounded as if she was talking through her teeth tightly shut_. Daughter of Dark Ace and The Great Ravess and current Midorian GunWitch._

"Yes?" Vixxy responded, her purple eyes scanning all around her.

_Behind you..._

Vixxy spun around in her chair, just to jump out of it with a gasp. In Vixxys desk mirror, instead of her stood a tall woman with pale skin and very long brown hair. She was wearing a white, raggy dress that was sindged and charred, as if it was burned afew minutes before she out it on. Her face was no visible because over it was a heavy looking mask made out of a metallic grey alloy, the only openings in the mask were the rectangular holes that showed her tear stained and pale looking green eyes and they dried blood around them.

_My name is Wendelin_._ I am a sister...A witch like you._ She mummbled through her teeth again.

"On your face..." Vixxy said coming closer to the mirror. "Is that...Is that the...The?"

_The Iron Mask_. The woman in the mirror replyed. Vixxy gasped again_. I have been cursed to wear it on my face, painfully for all eternity. As you can tell, it makes it very painful for me to move my mouth...Its thousands of spikes are lodged within my face...It is also within the faces of many more sisters and more to come..._

"Why are you here, Wendelin?" Vixxy asked.

_GunWitch...You and The Storm Hawks must get off this Terra...Now! Find your crystal energy elsewhere. If you stay on this Terra, you are all in mortal danger. Terra Salemdor isn't the terra it once was, GunWitch. The mortals have turned on us. We are being Iron Masked and burned at the stake, one of us or two everyday. You, GunWitch...You, your Oracle, the Merbs and all the others on this ship will suffer the worst..._

"Why?"

_Because...It was profecised long ago to us by Hecate herself that the GunWitch and her Oracle will come and restore peace between the Mortals and the witches...but..._

"But what?"

_In order to set the peace, GunWitch...You will have to burn with the Iron Mask!_

"What?! No! There has to be another way!"

_There is only one way_! Wendelin said_. Get off this Terra now and don't come back. The only way you can bring peace back to this terra is either if you go away and don't show yourself in the town...or if you burn!_

Wendelin vanished and Vixxy ran back out the bridge. "Guys!" She yelled. "We have to get away from here and find crystals somewhere else!"

"We can't." Piper said. "We have no more cystals. What's wrong, Vixxy?"

"Nothing..." Vixxy lied as she went back into her room. She finshed off her entry for the day.

_What could go wrong? I had to ask!!!  
I had an apparition, her name was Wendelin and she told me that unless I and the other Storm Hawks get off this terra, I will have to die, by Hecates will. We are out of crystals, so frankly, we're not going anywhere.  
I shall refuse to tell The Storm Hawks or Finn this, but I have to respect my Goddesses will...When fate brings me to the mask and stake, I'll have to lie back and take it..._

_My days are now offically numbered..._

_Hecate guide me,  
__Vixentina Ravenanna Dark. _

**To Be Continued...**


	2. True Colors Or Should We Say Shades

**Chapter Two: True Colors Or Should We Say Shades**

Vixxy spent what felt to her like hours sitting on her bed, rocking back and forth and holding herself in self-comfort. Piper then came in.

"Vixxy. We're going into the town." She said. "Are you coming?"

"I...don't think that's a very good idea, Piper..."Vixxy wispered.

"But this is Terra Salemdor!" Piper said. "They LOVE witches here..."

"That's what you said about Terra Vapos..."Vixxy growled. "And turns out, they wanted thier Domo, ironicly, to destroy the a-cursed GunWitch."

"Okay, so I forgot that Vapos and Midoria had been at war for thousands of years and the GunWitch was thier main threat on the battlefield." Piper sighed. "I already appologized for almost getting you burnt at the stake."  
Vixxy shuttered as soon as Piper mentioned the stake. "Are you okay?" Piper asked.

"I'm fine..." Vixxy said. "Maybe I'll just stay here and keep Stork, Star, Night and Moon company."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Just go!" Vixxy said.

With that, Piper, Aerrow, Finn, Junko and Radarr all left for the small town that was visible on the horizon. Stork noted that Vixxy's eyes showed concern for them. Finn mostly.

Once Aerrow, Piper, Finn, Radarr and Junko got to the town, they were greeted by one of the town representitives. She was a tall, light skinned, redheaded woman with dark green eyes and wore a black dress. Her hair was up in a tight bun with some bits hanging around her eyes and forehead. "You must be the Storm Hawks! Oh, I've always wanted to meet you!" She said, shaking Aerrow's hand. "Welcome to Terra Salemdor. Witch-free since...well, last month." She paused. "My name is Julia. I am the mayors daughter."

"Witch-free?" Aerrow asked.

"Yes." Julia said, sounding proud. "For the past month we've burnt hundreds of witches at the stake in the center of town, human and Merbian...lots of Merbian witches around here...In fact, we've found not to trust Merbians at all anymore here aswell." She was freakishly pirky for the topic she was speaking of.

PIper's eyes shifted. "What about...The Midorian GunWitch?"

Julia gasped, and it seemed as if all the people around them did too. "The GunWitch? That acursed name is not to me mentioned in this town." The pirky girl said again as her eye gave a twitch. "Like all witches, if she is caught on this terra, she will be delt with appropriately and inthusiasticaly."

"And her Oracle." Finn asked as his eyes shifted a bit.

"Oh, her Oracle." Julia sighed. "If the two are caught together, then we'll burn the Oracle at the stake and let the GunWitch have the displeasure of burning to dead with him, ironicly without any flames." The girl smiled. Finn turned a pale color....

"Uh, I'll meet your guys back at the Condor." He said as he bolted for his skimmer and in a flash, Finn was gone. Julia had a very weird and dark look in her eyes.

"Anyways..." Julia said, as if she was trying to change the subject. "Would you like the grand tour of our happy, peaceful and UN-bewitched town?" Aerrow opened his mouth to say something, but Julia cut him off. "We're buring Amiee Adolpha tonight. She's a witch!"

"If your burning her, I'd assume she's a witch..." Aerrow said. Piper, Junko and even Radarr could tell the pirky girl was creeping him out. She was creeping them all out.

"Would you like to come watch her burn?"

"Tempting..." Aerrow lied. "Very tempting...But we'll have to pass."

"Oh, too bad." Julia said. "Would you like to meet my father? He's down at the justice hall giving that witch, Adolpha what she deserves." She wispered in the childish way, with her hand at one side of her cheek. "Torchure...Lots and lots of torchure..."

"Torchure?" Piper asked what Aerrow and Junko were thinking.

"Yes." Julia said, gleefully again, this time clapping her hands. "A cat-o-nine-tails, blow torches and my personal favorite...The Iron Mask."

"Vixxy told me about that one." Aerrow wispere, inconspicuously to Piper. "The Iron Mask...It's supposed to be really painful." He turned to the gleeful Julia again. "It was good talking to you, Julia...But we have to go...We'll be back later."

The Storm Hawks tried not to make it obvious, but its hard to hide the fact that you're running away from someone as fast as you can. They didn't even bother to ask her about ny crystals they could buy. Julia flarred her nostrils and called a Salemdorian lawman over. "Follow them." She ordered. "I don't trust them."

"Why don't we just ask her for the crystals and get the heck out of here, Aerrow?" Piper asked, as eeryone mounted thier sky rides.

"I agree with Piper." Junko added. "The longer we stay here, the more threatening it is towards Vixxy and Finn."

"I know..." Aerrow said. "But, we're staying here for a while..."

"Why?" Piper and Junko asked.

"We need to devise a plan back at the Condor." Aerrow answered. "I want to rescue that Aimee Adolpha Julia was talking about. I have a feeling that she doesn't deserve what she's getting tonight."

"I don't think any Witches that were burned here deserved it." Piper said. "What happened? The Sky Knight here was a witch!"

"Maybe, once we save her, Aimee Adolpha can tell us something." Aerrow said. "Let's get back to the Condor..." He looked at the lawman gawking at them. "Now..."


	3. Aimee Adolpha

**Chapter Three: Aimee Adolpha**

Aerrow and Radarr, followed by Piper and Junko borded the park Condor. Finn and Vixxy were sitting in the bridge, each of them, guitar in hand. "Why is it that you always..."Finn sighed.

Vixxy smiled, her metallic retainer gleaming. "School you at the guitar?"

"Yes and no." Finn said. He then saw the others. "Guys, we have to get out of here! Did you get the crystals?"

"No." Aerrow said. "She was creeping me out, so we high-tailed it out of there."

"We'll have to get crystals elsewhere." Piper said.

"Good idea." Vixxy said. "There's just one problem...We have no crystals left. There was just enough to land us here safely."

"Says who?" Finn said.

"Stork...Star...Night...Moon..." Vixxy said. Finn banged his head on a nearby box.

"Me and Vixxy are in danger here!" Finn yelled. "Me especially!"

"You especially?!" Vixxy scoffed. "They DON'T know who you are!!!They know all to well who I am!!!If there's anyone here who has the right to panic, its me!"

Aerrow broke them up, just as Vixxy's eyes began to glow dark purple. "Okay, guys...We'll find out what's going on here soon enough." He said.

"From who?" The GunWitch and Oracle asked at the same time.

"Aimee Adolpha." Aerrow answered.

"Who?" Finn asked.

"A witch who's getting burned tonight." Piper answered.

"Not if we have anything to say about it." Aerrow said. "Come on...We gotta let Stork, Star, Night and Moon in on the plan."

Once everyone was gathered at the table in the bridge, Aerrow devised his plan. "Okay everyone." He said. "In a couple of hours, a witch by the name of Aimee Adolpha is being brought to the stake in Salemdor to be burned. We are going to rescue her and get some information hopefully."

"Witches used to be respected like royalty here." Piper said. "We need to find out what happened and who else can tell us then a local." Piper produced a map of the terra from the bottom of the table and pointed at the dark peice east of where the Condor was parked. "The witches and most of the towns Merbs were chased into the Black Forest. Since we don't have the time or the stamina to search the entire forest and the town people will get suspicous if they see Mephist flying around, we need help from a witch nearby...Being Adolpha."

"Great." Vixxy said. "Let's go get her before her execution...Remember, I can't be seen in the town."

"We've got that worked out." Piper said as she handed Vixxy a cloak.

"Thanks." Vixxy said as she put it on. She kept the hood down.

By sunset, the Storm Hawks were pirched on the top of a house that gave them a good, clear view of the stake in the middle of the circle of people. Human, Wallop and Merb, all of them were dressed in 16th century apparel. Apparently that was what the terra was based on. It was funny, it looked as if someone was building a galllows, stopped halfway through and put a stake there instead. The Storms Hawks, especially Vixxy(who now had her hood up and her head down) tryed thier best to stay out of site for now. "LOOK!" Someone down below screamed. "THERE'S THE ACURSED CREATURE NOW!!"

Stork snuck down the building and was soon in the crowd. Aerrow and the others kept a good view of him and luckily, nobody seemed to care he was dressed differently to everyone else. The 'witch', Iron Masked, was brought forth, up the stairs and up to the stake. She stood there quietly as Julia's lawman tied her to it. Then, Julia and her father, Mayor Derret stood up beside her. Julia had a smile on her face that was as creepy as her personality. "Aimee Adolpha." The mayor said. Then the Storm Hawks realised something.

Aimee Adolpha was a Merb. Her skin was a pale gold, her hair was long and black and her eyes, visible through the Iron Masks eye holes, were bright amber and filled with fear.

"Witch of the Black Forest. You have admitted to being a witch." The mayor continued. "Have you not?"  
The Merbian Witch nodded to confirm. "Then you are a witch?" She nodded again. "WITCH!" The mayor screamed pointing at her and looking at the towns people.

Vixxy exlcaimed tat part of witch burnings were humiliation. The crowd chanted. "WITCH! WITCH! WITCH! WITCH! WITCH! WITCH! WITCH! WITCH!" Stork shamefully joined in to more inconspicuous. "WITCH! WITCH! WITCH! WITCH! WITCH! WITCH! WITCH! WITCH!"

Stork did a good job to. Aerrow was frightened when he heard Storks voice over the crowd scream out: "BURN HER!!!! BURN THE WITCH!"

The torch in Julias hand was lit and a tear fell from the poor Merbs eye. She then winced because the salt from her tear stung the open wounds on her face caused by the Iron Mask. Stork got right up to the stake, he could see the girl clearly now above him. He signalled Aerrow and he told Vixxy to get ready.

"Get ready, Vixxy." He wispered.

Vixxy spun her weapon, the Gun Rod around and aimed it at the Merbian witch. "I'm ready." She was cleaverly desquised as one of the snipers on each bulding to prevent an esacpe by a witch. "I just hope I'm ready to use this spell..."

"You'll be fine." Piper said.

"Yeah. We believe in you, Vixxy." Junko said and Finn, Star, Night, Moon and Radarr all saluted.

Vixxy smiled and aimed the Gun Rod again. "What mode is it in?" Aerrow asked.

Vixxy spun it again. "The mode it needs to be in..."

The fire was lit and Vixxy idn't SHOOT the Gun Rod, she spun the Gun Rod around infront of her three times and then spun it three more times behind her. With that the Gun Rod glowed a greenish color and time for everything, exept for the Storm Hawks and Aimee slowed down more and more until it completly stopped. All the towns people were frozen where they were, in whatever pose they were in and Julia was standing there with her smile. Stork ran up the stairs and started to untie Aimee. "Wha-What's going on?" She asked through the mask.

"We're saving you." Stork answered. "Come with me."

Aimee followed Stork down the stairs and to the Storm Hawks. "Come on guys." Vixxy said. "The spell will wear off in couple secs." Finn snickered at the word 'secs' and Vixxy shook her head as they ran out of town. "Oh, grow up!"

Back on the Condor, Aimee thanked all the Storm Hawks for saving her. "You're welcome." Aerrow said. "But there's one more thing we have to do."

"What is that?" Aimee mumbled. She seemed to have forgetten about the mask suprisingly.

"We need to get that mask off you." Aerrow said.

"How?" Vixxy asked. "It's PINNED into her face with approximately a thousand iron spikes and it'll hurt to get it off."

"No problem." Stork said, looking at the Iron faced Merb. "Leave this to me..."

**To Be Continued...**


	4. Time To Call For Back Up

**Chapter Four:Time To Call For Back Up**

It wasn't long, not very long at all before the Condor, from end to the other was flooded with screams and curses. Stork announced to the whole ship that getting the Iron Mask off Aimees face was going to be harder then he thought...much, much harder.

The sun went down and the moon came up, Vixxy layed down in her bed and closed her eyes for the night...but her night sleep didn't last long. It wasn't long before Vixxys mind, because of all the screaming, was hit with vivid visions and nightmares of witches screaming at the stake as the falmes rose higher and higher until they would engulf them completely. Vixxy even saw her mother, a Talon named Lily and ten herself burn until she woke up. She shot up in her bed, her purpletank top and even her black shorts were a darker color and her skin glimmered with sweat. Vixxy rocked herself back and forth for a while until she noted that the halls of the Condor were oddly quiet for the siduation going on in the bridge. Vixxy, still in her jammys, walked into the Condors large control room. Aimee with all the Storm Hawks around her with red and some white towels around her. Aimee was laying on the table with a white towel over her face, she was panting erraticly and when she flipped over the towel, it was red.

"I assume you got the mask off." Vixxy said.

"Yes." Strk said, twitching like mad. "It wasn't pretty, no, not pretty at all...But I did it, yes, I did it!"

Piper blinked at Vixxy. "Vixxy, what's the matter?"

"Yeah." Aerrow added. "You look really scared about something."

"Oh, umm."Vixxy said, running her hand through her damp hair. "I just had a very grusome nightmare a couple minutes ago... That's all."

"You wanna talk about it?" Junko asked.

"He's got a point." Finn added. "We're all here for ya."

"Thanks guys." Vixxy said. "But I don't think it...It wasn't that bad."  
Aerrow knew right away Vixxy was lying to them, her eyes were less bright then usual, which meant that she was either scared for sad. Vixxy walked quickly out of the room and went to her room. Once Vixxy sat on her bed, burried her face in her hands and prepared to weep. she heard 'the' voice again.

_Concerned for yourself?_

Vixxy looked across the room to her left, at the mirror to see Wendelin's metallic face again. "When am I going to die, Wendelin?"

_When they catch you. _The witch in the mirror said. _That's when all the rest of us died. _

"I'll exept my fate to bring back the peace here, but what about my Oracle?" Vixxy said. "Won't the others get concerned when he says he feels like he's burning alive?"

_Well, you can get out of here now, before they catch you and just leave the other option of the prophecy to Hecate. _Wendelin said.

"How?" Vixxy asked. "We have no crystals!"

_Get someone to bring you some. _Wendelin finished before disappearing.

Vixxy thought for a while before writing a message on a peice of paper and folding it into a small square.  
She held out her arm and said quietly: "Mephist. Come." With a burst of black feathers and dust, a large, ruffy feathered raven was pirched on Vixxy purple sleeved arm. Mephist was Vixxy's spirit guide, familiar animal, pet and companion(next to Finn). He was a spectral raven that was black as coal and his eyes glowed a bright red. A very demonic looking indevidual, but yet very kind hearted, just like Vixxy. "Time to call for back up, Mephist." Vixxy said, stroaking the birds feathers. She held up the paper to him. "Find my father. Find Dark Ace, Mephist."  
The raven cawed in responce and took up the paper in his beak. Vixxy brought him to her window, opened it and kissed Mephist on the top of the head for luck. She then let him go. The loud sound of flapping filled the air as Mephist took off and went out of site.

Vixxy looked down to the ground and her heart stopped as she looked into the dark brown eyes of a Salemdorian lawman, who took off down the path to town shouting: "I found the GunWitch! I found the GunWitch!"

"HURRY MEPHIST!" Vixxy screamed. This sent all the Storm Hawks running into Vixxys room. They all asked what was wrong. Vixxys eyes filled with tears as she cried. "I'm gonna die unless we get out of here!"


	5. Help Comes A Little Late

**Note from the author: I must warn you about the content in the start of this chapter. It's not THAT bad...but its mature humor, if you're really sensitive toward sexualty...**

**Don't worry, I'm keeping this PG 13, but just puttin' it out there. **

**thanks.**

**Chapter Five: Help Comes A Little Late**

Mephist, of corus, wasn't a normal raven. He had a connection to the GunWitch and Oracle before Vixxy and Finn, which was Ravess and Dark Ace. Dark Ace was closer so Mephist headed down to the Cyclonian base on Terra Nimbus. Mephist landed on a nearby Talon skimmer and started to squawk with the note still in his beak. He attrated the attention of a young Talon named Hazel. Hazel was a medium sized (not short or tall) woman with long white hair, tanned skin and hazel eyes under her goggles. "Hello." She said sweetly. "What are you doing here? Whatcha got there?" When Mephist wouldn't let go of the note, Hazel just read the small words on the front.

_Dark Ace. _

Hazel looked at the raven. "You want Dark Ace? Is that what your here for?" Mephist cawed in confirmation. The Talon nodded and held out her hand hoping Mephist would step onto it, which he did. Hazel took Mephist away on her hand, she took him passed other Talons, some looked, some didn't...She reached Dark Aces cabin, breathed in and out, then opened the door.

Dark Ace was there alright, so was his girlfriend, Keira Marie, a young Talon woman (24 years old) with shoulder-neck length black hair, her bangs that ran passed the right side of her face were the same shade of red as Aerrow's hair (since they were brother and sister), her skin was interestingly colored, like a rich blend of white and milk chocolate(in fact, Master Cyclonis asked her if she could research her skin sometime...) and she wore a Talon commanders uniform almost identical to Dark Aces, or atleast they both had thier uniforms halfway on.

It was very awkward for a nineteen year old Talon to be standing there watching her two commanding officers make out on a desk, neither of them with thier shirts or armor on...Hazel was starting to thank the heavens above that Keira Marie still had her bra on.  
The Talon tried to speak up, but all that came out was a scream. That single scream lead to Dark Ace and Keira Marie screaming and Keira Marie launching herself off of Dark Ace and on to the floor behind the desk.

"What the..." Dark Ace screamed. "What did you see? How long were you there for?!"

"I just got here, sir." Hazel said, her head spinning in anxeity. "I didn't see Keira Marie's sports bra...The red one with the black sides..."

Dark Ace looked down to Keira Marie, who layed on her side, looking up at him with those hypnotic blue eyes. Sure enough...Red with black sides. "What's your name?" He asked.

"Hazel, sir." She said. "I'm a new recruit."

"Where are you from?" Keira Marie asked, standing.

"Terra Nimbus." Hazel said. "Here on Nimbus, mam."

"Why are you in here?" Dark Ace asked.

"This raven came with a message for you." Hazel showed the bird. "He won't let go of it."

Dark Ace jumped up off the desk. "Mephist?!"

"Is that is name?" Keira Marie asked. "I've been calling him Mannie all this time..."

Mephist dropped the note in Dark Ace's hand and pirched himself from Hazels hand to a small chair by the desk. Hazels eyes kept shifting because she knew she was not worthy and had no right to look at Dark Aces highly exposed body, she also avoided looking at Keira Marie because of other reasons. She just turned and left, closing the door behind her. "Don't worry!" A Talon said to her. "You're not the only Talon to walk in on them...They need to think about putting up a sign when they do stuff..."

Back in the cabin, Keira Marie went over to Dark Ace and put her hands on his shoulders as she peered around them at the note. "What does it say?"

After peering over at Keira Marie, Dark Ace read the note out loud to her:

_Dark Ace (A.K.A Dad)._

_The Storm Hawks and I are trapped on Terra Salemdor and we need crystals to get off.  
Why should this concern you and/or Mom? If we don't get off this terra soon, I will  
have to die at the stake as a prophcy by Hecate says so to reborn the peace here.  
Please bring cystals to help us, but mostly me.  
Only me, forget about the Storm Hawks._

_Your daughter,  
Vixentina, GunWitch._

"We have to help them." Keira Marie said.

"Yes. I have to save my daughter..." Dark Aces crimson eyes shifted. "Maybe we can strand the other Strom Hawks on the terra-"

"Hem hem..." Keira Marie scoffed.

"Oh, right...Right..."Dark Ace, clearly playing innocent. "Aerrow's your brother, isn't he?" He sighed. He then automaticly took off for the door.

"HOLD IT!" Keira Marie shouted. "Aren't we forgetting something?"

"I'll put Sami in charge."

"No, no, no. Aren't we foretting something else?"

Dark Ace looked back at his half undressed love and then down at his half undressed self. "Right...Mephist! Get back to Salemdor and we'll be there as soon as we can!"  
Mephist cawed and took off out the opened window in the back...It was amazing he knew about it.

Dark Ace and Keira Marie very quickly dressed themselves and put on thier Cyclonian armor and race outside the cabin. "Sami!" Dark Ace called out the base. "Sami! Come here!"

"Samara Maria!" Keira Marie called.

With that, a very young (13 years old) Talon girl came running fro around the corner. Samara Maria Dark was Dark Ace and Keira Maries daughter, thus Vixxy's half sister. She had her mothers physique, a tall nicely shaped body, clear, pure looking skin and short and wispy hair. However, Dark Ace was in her too. Her hair was black(when Keira Maries original color was red), her eyes were a dark crimson and her skin was a more pale color, like Dark Aces. "Okay, I'm here." She said.

"Sami." Dark Ace said. "Your mother and I need to go somewhere. While we're gone, you're in charge. Take all calls from Master Cyclonis."

With that, Dark Ace and Keira Marie close behind bolted for thier skimmers and started them. "Hey!" Samara shouted. "How-"

"Say no more, baby!" Dark Ace said. he stood up on his skimmer and screamed to the base so loud Samara and Keira Marie covered thier ears. "WHILE KEIRA MARIE AND I ARE GONE, SAMARA MARIA IS IN CHARGE! ANYOE WHO OPPOSES HER WORD WILL BE PUNISHED!" He patted the girl on her head. "There you go..."

With that Dark Ace and Keira Marie took off for Salemdor. However, by the time they got there and found the Condor, the ship was trashed and all the Storm Hawks were passed out all around the bridge, with Vixxy missing. Dark Ace walked over to Aerrow and booted him in the side until he woke up.

"Dark Ace? Is that you?" Aerrow said.

"Nope, It's your fairy godmother." Dark Ace said. "Of corus it's me!"

"Aerrow, what happened?" Keira Marie asked. "Where is Vixxy?"

"They took her..." Aerrow said. "There was too many of them, we couldn't stop them..."


	6. Lilys Secret

**Note from the author:  
When I read over ch. 5. I noted some crucial errors I made.  
1. Keira Marie is NOT 24 years old, she is 26, cause I'm guessing that's how old Dark Ace is.  
2. Samara is NOT 13 years old, she is 10. She was born when Keira Marie was 16.**

**Okay. Thanks for reading. Please review. The Dead Terra: Terra Salemdor continues...**

Chapter Six: Lily's Secret

Once all the Storm Hawks woke up and Finn pulled himself together(after Dark Ace told him what was going on), the Storm Hawks and two Talons discussed what had to be done.

"Vixxy has no choice." Dark Ace said.

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

"She HAS to burn at that stake." Keira Marie simplifyed.

"WHAT?!" Finn snapped, unknowingly slapping her across the face. "How could you say that! Don't say that!"

Keira Marie looked at Finn, her eyes pale and scared. Being hit really hard usually made her re-live the nights and mornings when her Sky Knight husband, Geoffry used to beat her to a bloody pulp. Dark Ace stepped up to Finn and seized him by the shoulders. "Never...hit...her...ever...again..." He growled.

"Forget it, everyone." Aerrow said. "How are we going to rescue Vixxy?"

"Didn't you hear the discussion we just had?" Dark Ace snapped. "Vixxy has to burn at the stake to re-state the peace between the magicals and mortals on this terra!"

"Why do you care?" Aerrow yelled.

"I don't!" Was Dark Ace's reply. "I came here cause-"

"Thought so, you're a Cyclonian! Why would you care?!" Aerrow cried. "Ava, how do you lay down for him?"

Keira Marie didn't have an answer for Aerrow's question. She could see it in Dark Ace's crimson eyes that he was trying so hard to keep himself from decapitating Aerrow right there. "Isn't there some way we could se Vixentina AND bring the peace back, Dark Ace?" She asked in a soft hypnotic tone.

Keira Maries voce seemed to have calmed Dark Ace down. "I...I don't know..." Dark Ace snapped his fingers. "But I'll bet the last GunWitch will know!" He bolted outisde for his skimmer.

"Wow." Aerrow said to Keira Marie. "I haven't seen him run that fast since we found him with the Madulla Crystal in Saharr."

"Don't remind me of that stupid suit." Keira Marie replyed, jogging after Dark Ace.

When Aerrow and Keira Marie got outside the Condor, Dark Ace was on the radio on his skimmer, Ravess on the other line. "Okay, Ravess." He said. "We're on Terra Salemdor...And it would help if you came discretely...Okay...See you in a couple minutes." He disconnected and turned to his lovely second in command. "Luckily, she was at the terra just west of here...She'll be here soon."

Ironicly, Ravess, Snipe and another female Talon landed as soon as Dark Ace finished. Aerrow knew the Talon. He met her one Terra Midoria. She was a troubled and somewhat jumpy Talon, about 23 years old named Lilianna. The Talons called her Lily. She was a short one, just afew inches shorter then Ravess, she had pale brown eyes and dark brown hair that she kept in a braide that reached her mid-back. She tried to commit suicide on Terra Midoria out of panic, but Snipe stopped her. There were rumors around Cyclonia that Snipe liked Lily and there was evidence that argued that it was true, however, he seemed as if he didn't like girls(in the childish way) sometimes.

Ravess ran over to Dark Ace and looked around. "Where is my daughter?"

"Well...about that..." Dark Ace said.

Ravess' attention automaticly turned to Finn. "You! What did you do to my daughter?" She made it half way to the cowaring blonde boy, but Keira Marie and Dark Ace seized her by each arm.

"Raves, stop!" Keira Marie said. "He didn't do anything!"

"Why did I defend a Storm Hawk?" Dark Ace asked himself. "What have I become?"

"Then what happened?" Ravess asked.

"Well, Ravess..." Dark Ace said..."You now the...Um...Vixxy can spead peace...oh...She needs to...Um..."

"Oh, Atmos, no!" Ravess gasped. "NO! THEY'RE GOING TO BURN MY BABY?! WE'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING!"

"That's the thing!" Keira Marie said. "There's nothing we can do!"

"There;s nothing WE can do." Lily said from her skimmer. "But the Lords of Salemdor can probably tell us what to do to save Vixentina."

"It's about time you said something, Lily." Ravess said. "The Lords of Salemdor...That's a good idea!"

"The Lords of Salemdor?" Piper objected. "They're just a story! They can't be real."

"Oh, they're real..."Lily said. "All fourth of them."

"How do you know?" Piper snapped, she wasn't about to be proven wrong by a Talon.

Lily took a deep breath...then let it out. "I'm the fourth Lord of Salemdor."

Everyone froze in shock, even the Cyclonians. "No, you can't be a witch!" Ravess said. "I would have senced it from you!"

"Vixxy senced it." Lily responded. "I swore her to secrecy. Master Cyclonis too."

Star stpped forward from the Condors bridge. "Where's your familiar?"

"My what?" Lily asked.

"You're familiar. You're animal." Star said.

"You know." Piper added. "Vixxy's familiar is Mephist the Raven."

"Oh..." Lily sighed. She held out her hands and a bright light shines past the sun on her two palms and on them stood a medium sized snake. "Bathazar the Serpent." Lily introduced him. "My sisters familiars are Rowan the Crow, Bregstan the Badger and Gapar the Lion."

Finn blinked. "A lion, a badger, a crow and a snake? It sounds like something out of a fantasy novel writen on a british terra..."

Lily giggled a bit. "I can take you to my sisters..."

"If it's not to much trouble..." Dark Ace, Finn and Aerrow said at the same time. This caused them to glare at one another.


	7. Gallis Hill

Chapter Seven: Gallis Hill

Ravess, out of all the Storm Hawks and Cyclonians was the most hystarical over Lily's newly revealed secret. "I can't believe you were the fourth Lord of Salemdor and didn't tell anyone!!" She screamed at Lily as they walked ahead of the group.

The Storm Hawks and Cyclonians walked in a fashionable, pyramid-filed line. In the front there was Ravess and Lily, in the middle there was Aerrow, Radarr, Piper, Keira Marie, Stork, Star, Night, Moon and Snipe. In the back was a very quiet Junko and a VERY nervous looking Finn.

"What's wrong, Finn?" Piper asked as she turned around for a second.

"I can feel her pain!" Finn snapped. "So when they burn her, I'll feel it! Every inch of pain she does of it, and I DON'T REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BURN ALIVE AND IRONICLY LIVE TO TELL ABOUT IT!!!!"

"Finn, calm down." Aerrow said. "Vixxy will be fine. We'll get her back before anything bad happens to her."

Just as Aerrow finished his sentance, Finn twitched and then dropped to the dirt, screaming like he was in excrusiating pain. This caused everyone to run to him.

"What in Atmos is wrong with him?!" Keira Marie shouted.

"I think he has mind worms." Stork answered.

"You think everyone has mind worms!" Moon snapped back.

Everyone was beginning to think Finn was in so much pain, he's lost contact with reality. Lily placed her hand a few inches above him and closed her eyes. Her mind at that moment, showed Vixxy in a dark and soggy dungeon, cut and bleeding, dressed in a torn and dirty dress that was white, but painted reddish brown (with dried blood) and was a little too big for her. Lily crindged in horror as Vixxy was fitted with the Iron Mask. Her screams mixed into Finns in Lily's mind. Finn was feeling the pain of the mask with Vixxy. Lily exclaimed that to the others and Finn began to calm down. He was now, still on the ground, but wimpering in prior to screeching like he was.

"If Vixxy's eing fitted right now, we don't have much time." Ravess said. "Lily, we're gonna have to find your sisters later!"

"We have to get to Gallis Hill now if we want to stop this hanging!!!" Dark Ace said.

"What about Vixxy dying for this Terra?" Aerrow said. "What ever happened to that????Huh? Huh?!"

"Shut up, right now!!!" Dark Ace screamed back at him.

"STOP IT!" Keira Marie screeched at them, which frightened them both. "Will you two just get along for a while? You two worked together just fine on Midoria when that banshee kidnapped me for her rictual thingy! Let's have that going again!"

Dark Ace paced past Keira Marie with his head hung. "Put us on an island for about a week..." He muttered. "Then maybe we'll get along..."

"Did I hear something?" Keira Marie hissed with a soft, dangerous sounding tone.

Dark Ace jumped. "No..."

"Good. Let's get to this Gallis Hill." Keira Marie added. "Lily, where is it?"

"Just afew more kilometers this way." Lily answered.

Gallis Hill was a very spooky area of the terra. Piper thought to herself that it made Terra Midoria look like a dream prior to the type of nightmare it was. It was nothing but an open valley that looked like there was trees there at one point, but where all burnt down over and over again. And tied to a few stakes that where planted there were the charred and smoldering corpses and three witches. Lily trembled and was clearly holding back a river of tears at the site of these three young brunette witches. Everyone then realised why. A sign beside the farthest witch to the left read:

_WICTHES OF TERRA SALEMDOR BE WARNED!  
HERE STAND THE THREE CHARRED REMAINS OF THREE OF YOUR SACRED "LORDS".  
DUSK  
MARISKA  
TYRELLA  
THE FOURTH, LILIANNA IS YET TO BE FOUND!  
_

"Lily..." Ravess said, standing at the Talons side. "I am so sorry..."

"My...my...my sisters..." Lily weeped. Everyone let her cry for awhile, and then her sadness turned to anger. "I promise you, sisters...They will pay!!" She said stirly as she approached the middle witch, Mariska. She slowly pulled her head streight and revealed to the others the dead beings Iron Masked face.

"Urg!" Piper gagged. "They still leave those things on after they burn?!"

"Yeah." Lily answered. "So we are forced to wear it for all eternity...You all deserve better then this..." Lily began to pull on her sisters mask, until it very messily and loudly came off. Listening to the spikes separating from the charred skin made Piper queezy, but she didn't turn away, she was too facinated. Everyone watched as Lily pulled all three masks off of her three sisters and placed them all at thier feet and bowed respectfully.  
Thinging it would make her feel better, they all bowed with Lily. She smiled.

Then the sound of something being pounded was heard by everyone. The sound was followed up a hill and at the other side, about nine meters away was four Salemdorian lawmen,one holding a stake in place as the other pounded into the ground with a hammer and two holding an Iron Masked witch with short black hair in place.  
The witch looked atleast fourteen years old if not younger and the top of the dirty, torn white dress she had on lingered around her shoulders. It was astounding that it didn't fall right off her. Her face was impossible to see becasue of the fact that her head was hung and she was shaking it back and forth as if to say: _No, no ,no, no, no, _and the Iron Mask on her face. Once the very young witch hoisted her head and revealed her bright-dark purple eyes that shinned through the eye holes of the Iron Mask, Finn reconized her.

"It's Vixxy!" He said right before Aerrow grabbed him to hide him before he was seen by one of the executioners. "We have to save her!" Finn wispered.

"Don't worry..." Lily, Ravess, Snipe and Dark Ace all said at the same time. "We will."

**To Be Continued...**


	8. The Truth

Chapter Eight: The Truth

Once the plan was clear with everyone, the Storm Hawks and Talons broke up into three groups and made their way around Vixxy and her executioners. In the first group was Aerrow, Radarr, Dark Ace, Snipe, Stork and Junko. They went to the far side of Gallis Hill. In the second group there was Piper, Keira Marie, Ravess, Star, Night and Moon. They went to the distant drifting hill beside Gallis. Finn and Lily made up the third group. They stayed where they were. Lily placed her hand on Finns shoulder and they both went invisible. Being invisible was very weird and hard to adjust to for Finn at first. When he held out his hand, he couldn't see it and he couldn't even see Lily.

"C'mon." He heard her wisper. "Remember the plan."

"Okay." Finn responded.

"Shhh." Lily shushed as her and Finn krept up to two of the three executioners.

Finn and Lily stayed low and heard Aerrow's voice in thier communication radios in thier ears.

"This is Team Strong Ones." Aerrow said. "Ready to go, over. Are you ready to go, Team Hot Stuff? Over."

"This is Team Hot Stuff." Piper's voice answered. "Over."

"Ready to go, over." Keira Marie added. "What about you, Team Oracle-and-Lord? Over."

"This is Oracle-and-Lord." Lily wispered as soft as she could. "Ready as we'll ever be, over."

"Okay, everyone." Dark Ace said. "Oracle and Lord, do your thing..."

Lily, still invisible, picked up a rock and threw it at the head of one of the guards. The two guards came down to the bottom of the hill leaving the third up alone with Vixxy, who was by now tied to the stake. The two guards being alone allowed Finn and Lily to knock them out, hidden at the bottom of Gallis Hill just before of invisiblility spell wore off. Finn and Lily took the two unifroms off the men and put them on. Lily put her hair into a bun and stuffed it all into the old fashioned hat. "I never thought I'd be happy to be flat chested." Lily said mainly to Keira Marie.  
Just before Finn and Lily treked up to the top of the hill, to everybodys horror, Dark Ace powered up his energy blade and impaled both subdued men.

Keira Marie was the most horror stricken. "Dark Ace! WHAT THE-"

Dark Ace slapped his hand over Keira Maries mouth and held her hidden from the third guard...who was now looking around. When he turned back to tend to the ropes strapping Vixxy to the stake, Dark Ace tightened his grib on Keira Maries face because she was still tying to yell at him, however, nothing was gettig past Dark Ace's cold hand.

"Keira Marie...I'll let you go when you calm down." Dark Ace said. Keira Marie cooled down more and more, until she was just breathing easily through her nose. "There you go." Dark Ace said to her as he playfully picked at the stud in her nose just before taking his gloved hand away from her. Aerrow felt like gagging. "You need an explaination. I killed them because we don't want them breaking in on our plan of freeing Vixxy."

Keira Marie nodded. "Lily..."

Lily reponded and turned the bodies invisible. Then the third guard was heard up on the hilltop. "Drew! Mark! Get back up here so we can burn the witch!"

"I'm the GunWitch." Vixxy said through the mask, thus through her teeth.

"I knew that!" The man said, slapping Vixxy across the metallic face.

Finn and Lily casually walked up the hill wispering to eachother. "I'll be Drew." Lily wispered. "You be Mark."

"I wanted to be Drew!" Finn wispered back. "Drew is my cousins name!"

"FINE! I''ll be Mark! You be Drew!"

"What are you two muttering about?" The third asked. "C'mon, if we don't burn her soon, we're dead."

Finn noted that Vixxy looked just as suprised as him and Lily did. Dark Ace, Aerrow and Keira Marie were side by side on thier stomachs. "What did he mean?" Aerrow asked.

"Let's ambush and find out." Dark Ace said. He, Keira Marie and Aerrow all powered up thier energy blades, Keira Maries firebolt blade was a copy of Dark Ace's because they shared everything.

The three followed by the others ambushed Gallis Hill and subdued the third guard. Dark Ace almost pushed Finn aside to seize the man by the neck and shake him like a ragdoll. "Who wanted you to burn the GunWitch? Who wants her dead?"

"I can't say..."

"Who?"

"I can't-"

"Who?"

"No..."

"Tell me! Right now! Who?"

"She'll kill us all!"

"WHO?!" Dark Ace slammed the man on the ground at Vixxy's feet as Finn cut her loose.

"I can't-"

Dark Ace kicked him in the chest. "TELL ME!"

The man cracked. "JIELLIANNIA! THE SALEMDOR WITCH!"

"The Salemdor Witch?" Piper repeated. "But that's just an old ghost story used to scare children out of playing in the Black Forest and getting lost."

"I swear." The man said. "She wanted the GunWitch and all the others dead because her biggest weakness is another magical."

"Where can we find this Salemdor Witch?" Dark Ace asked, grabbing the mans neck again.

As everyone else watched Dark Ace interogate the already paranoid indevidual, Keira Marie put her hand on her chest and cracked a small smile. "I love it when Dark Ace interogates people."  
Aerrow gagged again.

After Dark Ace ruffed up the guy more, he cracked again. "She dwells in the Black Forest. That's all I know! The Salemdorian Sky Knight, Marilyn can tell you the rest, but she's also in the forest!"

"At a boy!" Dark Ace said as he smacked the man in the head, knocking him out cold.

Finn grabbed Vixxy's arm and put it over his shoulder to help her walk with the Iron Mask weighing her down. Everybody reteated back to where the Condor was. Which was later discovered by Piper to be right at the front of the Black Forest.

"We'll figure out how to find Marilyn later." Ravess said. "Our main objective now is to get this horrid thing off my daughter!"

Piper looked around Vixxy's face. "That DOES look really, really painful."

"Of corus it's painful!" Vixxy said through her teeth. "There's over a thousand spikes in my face! Ask Adolpha! Where is she?!"

"She went back to the forest." Stork said. "She wanted to go home."

"GET THIS THING OFF ME!" Vixxy screamed.


	9. The Salemdor Witch

Chapter Nine: The Salemdor Witch

Back at the condor, Keira Marie, with Ravess at her side was typing like crazy on a search engine, Piper was flipping through one of Vixxy's demonology books and Stork and Dark Ace were working on getting the Iron Mask off Vixxy.

Vixxy was rocking back and forth on a large create, Dark Ace rubbing her back to comfort her. Vixxy muttered things like: "Get this thing off me, please, Dad.""It hurts." "Help me."  
Dark Ace felt a pain in his throat while he looked into his daughters tear-blood stained eyes through the holes in the mask. They were dark with pain, both internal and external. Vixxy, through the holes saw his bottom lip quivering before he turned his head and covered his mouth with his hand. "Dad?" She muttered. "I'm okay."  
Vixxy wasn't so sure anymore when she saw Stork come back, dressed in his 'armor' with a huge metal claw thing in his hand. As Stork placed the claw over the masks perimeter and Dark Ace grabbed her shoulders, Vixxy closed her eyes tight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The same man that Dark Ace speared and interrogated on Gallis Hill, even though terrifyed walked into the Mayors office to see Julia there. He asked her where father was and she pointed down to the floor at her feet. The Mayor of Salemdor was dead at Julia's feet.

"Now...I understand the GunWitch got away?" Julia said in an entirely different tone then she usually used.

"She...she never escaped, Miss Julia." The man said. "She was rescued."

"Rescued? By who?"

"Her father. The Dark Ace. And the Storm Hawks"

"The Dark Ace. Cyclonia's Dark Ace and The same Storm Hawks who were in town not to long ago?"

"I believe so..." The man continued. "Dark Ace...He...made me say somethings..."

"He made you say what?" Julia asked as the man started to cringe.

"I told him that the Salemdor Witch was responcible for the witch murders and that thier best hope was to find Marilyn." Julia looked down to her grey dress and looked back up at him. "Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry! He kicked me."

"Hush, hush, Julius." Julia said. "Dear, dear cousin." She walked over to him and placed her hand on his cheek. Julius' white skin turned a greyish blue and cold until she took it off. "I'll spear you...For now."

"Thank you, cousin." Julius said. "Thank you, Jie...Juila..."

"I said 'for now'." Julia growled. "I may decide to kill you when I get back."

"Where are you going, cousin?"

Julia paused at the door and looked down at her grey dress again. All she said was: "I think it's time the Dark Ace met his match and saw what the Salemdor Witch is capable of."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vixxy was crying out in pain as Stork had the mask half way pulled off. It was worse for everyone else on the ship because since Stork was mainly pulling at the bottom of the mask, Vixxy was free to scream now, and she had a skin crawler of a scream. Dark Ace was now patting her back.

"It's okay, it's okay Vixxy!"

Once Stork finally pulled that mask off, Vixxy's face was red and shinny with her own blood. Dark Ace pressed a towel over her face. Vixxy then layed on her back on the create o and held the towel herself. Stork and Dark Ace heard her utter "Thank you." from under the towel.

Dark Ace came back to the bridge and went over to Keira Marie, who was reading an article on a laptop she kept with her. He wrapped his arms around Keira Marie from behind and nuzzled her neck. Aerrow started to gag again. Dark Ace shot Aerrow an evil look. "You want something to gag about?!"

"Dark Ace, don't." Keira Marie groaned as she clicked at the keyboard of the computer.  
Aerrow was afew meters away from Keira Marie on her left side and Dark Ace was one her right side. Despite Keira Marie telling him no, Dark Ace started to kiss her on the neck. Keira Marie gasped and jumped. "Hey! I said 'don't'!" Dark Ace backed off and pouted. Keira Marie sighed. "Later..." With that, Dark Ace's attitude changed.

"What did you find?" Dark Ace asked, wrapping his arms around Kiera Maries shoulders again. Ravess moved.

"Well," Keira Marie said. "I've read a couple articles on the legend of the Salemdor Witch." Everyone gathered around Keira Marie as she read out bits of what she had.  
"The Salemdor Witch is the vengeful spirit of a witch that was wrongfully chased out of Salemdor town into the Black Forest over 500 years ago. She's a ghost out for revenge, literally. Since she died in the Black Forest, cause of death unknown, she's still there."

"Like I said." Piper interupted. "It's just an old ghost story grandparents told to children to keep them from playing in the forest and getting lost."

Keira Marie looked around her article. "Ah ha. The main REASON parents didn't want thier children in the forest is becasue, afew months after the departation of Jieliannia, children and even some adults that ventured into the forest, never came back or were heard from again."

"Anything could have happened." Piper scoffed.

"Yes, that could be true for them." Keira Marie said. She flipped to another article. On the top of the article was colorles pictures of an attractive young Merbian woman and an adorable little Merbian girl.  
"This is Cammia and her little daughter, Sophie. It says here that, afew months ago, Sophie and Cammia went into the Forest together for a play date. While Cammia watched, Sophie was playing in the Salemdor River, the river located in the forest and suddenly she just dropped face first into the water. Cammia ran to help her daughter put could pull her out. Cammia said that she managed to pull Sophie out of the water just enough to see two ghostly hands holding on to her arms. Cammia's grip was shook and she lost Sophie."

Piper turned concrerned. "What happened to Sophie?"

Kiera Marie read on. "They couldn't find her body...Not a sign of it."

"Well, if this happened a couple months ago," Aerrow said. "Can't we find Cammia to ask her a few questions?"

"Nope." Keira Marie said as she read on. "Cammia commited suicide afew days after they told her that the search for Sophie was called off."

"That's just great." Finn said, feeling Vixxy's throbbing pain. "We can't interview the dead."

Dark Ace shook his head. "Keep looking for more." He said. "I need some fresh air..."

Dark Ace exited the Condor onto the cold dirt ground of Salemdor. It was a eerie, yet still beautiful terra after dark. The Black Forest was to the left. After hearing all these stories, Dark Ace was frightened of the forest. He didn't want to disappear without a trace.  
A crack sounded from behind him and Dark Ace turned and drew his energy blade to see Keira Marie following him out of the Condor.

"It's just me." She said in that hypnotic voice.

Dark Ace smiled and powered down the energy blade before putting it away on his back. "You startled me."

"Did I startle you? Or did the stories of all the children...uhm SHE killed startle you?" Keira Marie asked.  
She walked over to him as close as she could get and wrapped her arms around Dark Aces shoulders and put one of her hands behind his neck. Keira Marie's skin felt alot more cold then usual, but she was still the beautiful Talon she was. She rested her head on his shoulder and wispered: "I believe I made you a promise when I said "later"."  
Dark Ace looked into Keira Maries eyes. They were different also, less bright and more dead looking almost. But her desuctive voice was just the same. "What's the matter? Why are you hesitating?"

"Nothing." Dark Ace said. "Nothing..."

Keira Marie smiled and tilted her head to the side. Dark Ace knew exactly what it meant and kissed her neck where the pressure point was located. To get a better reaction out of Keira Marie, Dark Ace genatlly bit her on the presure point. While she gasped, Dark Ace heard her voice again scream: "DARK ACE!" From oddly far away.  
He looked away from Keira Marie to see her on the step on the Condor with Aerrow and Piper. In confusion, Dark Ace spun around again to find out that it was not Keira Marie standing there, it was another woman in a grey dress with dead white skin, dark eyes and matted dark hair that went to her back and seemed to flow in its own wind.

"Awe, why'd you stop?" She asked in a dark, evil voice that scared Dark Ace half to death.

"Dark Ace!" Piper screamed. "Get away from her! THAT'S THE SALEMDOR WITCH!"

It was too late, the Witch had seized Dark Ace by the arm and pulled him close to her. She then grabbed him by the hair on theback of his head and pressed her lips against his. Keira Marie starred at the two in horror, but not because Dark Ace was kissing another woman, she was horrifyed because as they kissed, ALL of Dark Ace's color in his skin, hair and even eyes was disappearing. Dark Ace tried to pull away from the witch, but she pulled him back violently until he dropped at her feet. Aerrow drew his energy blades and Piper ran inside the Condor screaming for help.  
Jieliannia fled, laughing and Keira Marie ran to tend to Dark Ace. His skin was a greyish blue color and his hair had lost all it's luster. Keira Marie cupped his face in her hands as tears fell from her eyes. "Dark Ace?!" She cried. "Dark Ace! Look at me!"

Dark Ace struggled to open his eyes and keep them focused. He was breathing erratcily and couldn't speak. Lily dropped by Keira Maries side and looked at Dark Ace.

"The Salemdor Witch poisoned him." She said.

"What will we do?" Keira Marie cried.

"We have to find the Salemdorian SkyKnight, Marilyn." Lily said.

"Can she help?" Ravess asked.

"I hope so..." Lily breathed.

Keira Marie stopped crying and began balling. "YOU THINK SO?!"


	10. Into the Forest

Chapter Ten: Into the Forest

"We have two problems." Lily said.

"I think I know where your going with this..." Night said.

"Problemo number one..." Star began. "We need to find a small group of people in a five hundred square foot forest that is most likely haunted and filled with deadly creatures that could eat us all alive."

"Problemo number two." Night picked up despite how nervous ALL the Storm Hawks were getting. "We need to find away to carry half way dead Dark Ace around the fifve hundred square foot forest that is most likely haunted and filled with deadly creatures that could eat us all alive."

"Well, I would have worded it differently, but they're right." Lily said to everyone.

"A five hundred foot forest?!" Keira Marie was in shock.

"A five hundred SQUARE foot forest." Star and Night said.

Keira Marie began to cry again and rocked back and forth beside unconcious and pale Dark Ace. "We'll never find them in time! He'll suffer! I'll be a single mother!" She began hypoventilating. "I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm having-I'm having-I'm having an anxiety attack!"

"Keira Marie, plase calm down." Ravess said.

"No!" She screamed. "I have no intension of calming down! Put yourself in my shoes! MY shoes! What would you do!? If he dies, I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

"Ava!" Aerrow yelled, calling Keira Marie by her real name again. "Breath." He handed her one of the paper bags the Storm Hawks kept around for when Stork had an anxiety episode.  
Keira Marie breathed in and out into the bag as tears ran down her cheeks. Piper stepped up and put her hand on her Keira Marie's shoulder.

"We can find the Salemdor Covenant if we work together." She said.

"Okay, so finding the Covanent is gonna be the easy part." Vixxy said, her wounds healing very slowly.

"I know what Vixxy's saying." Finn added. "How are we gonna carry him?" He pointed at Dark Ace.

"I think I know how..." Lily said. "I'm the Lord of Earth. Hang on..."  
Lily reached down her top and pulled out a pendant. It was an odd symbol that represented earth. She stepped outside the Condor and held it close to her heart. She started to chant, in an odd language. She was summoning. Everyone was astonished as three trees infront of Lily shifted and twisted together into a very odd creature. It's limbs were full of moss and vines, it's head was a knot from one of the trees with only glowing yellow eyes. It's front legs were twice as large as it's hide ones. It's lumbered towards Lily and seemed to bow in a funny fashion. Lily turned to the others and said: "This is Lithomactratostra." Seeing the confused faces she simplifyed. "One of my forest guardians. He'll carry Dark Ace for us through the forest." She turned back to the large, odd looking creature. "Litho, can you carry our friend for us, please?"

The creature growled and lumbered over to Keira Marie, who had Dark Ace around her shoulder, just hanging on to conciousness by a thread. Aerrow tried his best to resist laughing, but it looked like he was drunk. Keira Marie handed Dark Ace to the creature, who could hold him in one massive arm. It walked passed Vixxy and bowed it's head at the GunWitch, she bowed her head in return.

Everyone gathered thier weapons and supplies and followed Lily, Vixxy and Litho into the forest. Piper, out of all the Storm Hawks was the most creeped out. The further they got into the forest, the darker it got.

"How long have we been walking?" Finn groaned.

"Two hours..." Keira Marie sighed from infront of him.

"Are we there yet, Lily?" Piper asked.

Just then, noises were heard in the brushes all around the group. Litho growled like a large dog. All around, shadows appeared, glowing eyes of all colors. Blue, crimson, green, yellow, purple and brown. The leader of the shadows stepped forward, it was wearing a cloak with the hood up, all of them were. "Intruders." It said in a female voice. "You have three seconds to identify yourselves and the reason you have Lithomactratostra with you before you are all destroyed!" Each shadow began to glow the color of their eyes.

"We mean you no harm." Finn said, despite Vixxy shaking her head negatively. "I am one of you."

"How?" The leader asked.

"I-I-I-I come from a long line of...you people." Finn said. "My great-great-great-great-grandfather was the greatest wizard of all time, Albus Gandolf...uh, dor...Gandolfdor, yeah that's it!"

It was obvious that the shadows, now clearly the witches and warlocs of Salemdor, didn't buy it. They all started to glow thier colors in a neon version.

"Great," Vixxy said. "Nice going Finn. NOW you've done it!"


	11. The Salemdor Covenant

Chapter 11: The Salemdor Covenant 

"No!" Lily shouted, stepping forward. "We really mean you no harm!" She gestured toward Finn. "He's just a...moron who doesn't think before he talks."

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Finn started before Star and Night seized him and each slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Persistant little bugger, ain't he?" Star asked Night as Finn continued to try and talk through thier hands.

"Identify yourselves, strangers." The hooded leader repeated.

Lily pulled her golden amulet out from under her top again and showed it. "I am Lillianna! Your Earth Lord returned to you!"

The group of shadows gasped and stirred around, wispers could be heard. Vixxy stepped forward and showed the GunRod. "And I am Vixentina Ravenanna Dark. The Midorian GunWitch!"

All the shadows dropped to thier knees as if worshipping.

The leader stepped out of the shadows and bowed. Under her hood, her brown skin, blue hair and golden eyes were visible. Piper blinked. "Marilyn?"

"Piper?"

"MARILYN!"

"PIPER!"

Piper ran up and hugged the witch. Aerrow blinked multiple times. "Piper. You know the Salemdorian Sky Knight?!"

"She's my sister!" Piper said. "I thought she died along time ago."

"I did." Marilyn said. "But some Druids brought me back and before long I was chosen as the Salemdorian Sky Knight. So what brings you here, Piper?"  
Marilyn pulled back her hood and pulled out her hair from under it. Her hair was down to her back, other then that and her full developed adult body, she was almost identical to Piper.

"Um, my sisters...boyfriend was..." Aerrow started, but didn't know how to finish. He couldn't work it.

Vixxy saw his stuggle and took over. "He was poisoned...By the Salemdor Witch."

A young Merbian witch wearing a worn dress stepped forward and pushed her black hair aside. "Did you say...The Salemdor Witch?"

"The evil one herself." Vixxy said. "Look." She lead Marilyn over to the large forest guardian, which was still standing motionless, starring at Lily with Dark Ace still craddled in its one bus sized arm.

Marilyn blinked at the half dead being. "Is that...the Dark Ace?" She looked at Aerrow. "THE Dark Ace?" Aerrow nodded. "He's dating YOUR sister? I thought-"

"It's a LONG story." Keira Marie said, Dark Ace's hand in hers still. It never left her hand. "Please help him."

Marilyn hesitated. "Hmmm...Come with us to our base in the forest heart." She said. "Our Druidess can cure him easily."

Keira Marie let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. God bless you." She then jumped. "OH! I-I-I mean _Hee-_Kate bless you."

The Merbian witch blinked, but looked understanding. "Our Godess' name is pronounced "Heck-A-Tay"." She was talking about Hecate, the Goddess of the Witches. Finn had met her on Midoria not to long ago. The mention of her name made him shiver.

"So, how far away is your base?" Aerrow asked.

"Not far..." Was Marilyn's answer.

..................................................................................

The base was nothing but some tents and stick cabins in the middle of the forest. In the center, there was a bonfire. Finn went over to Marilyn.

"So what? Do you dance around the fire and cast spells or something?"

Marilyn was unimpressed. Aerrow jumped forward, fumming over what Finn said to them last time. "FINN! STOP OFFENDING THE WITCHES AND WARLOCS!"

"What?! All I'm saying is-"

"SHUT UP!"

"OKAY!!"

Marilyn spoke up, late. "We dance around the fire and tell stories."

"Why do you need to dance to tell stories-NO OFFENCE-!" Finn asked.

"We're magicals." The Merbian witch said. "It's the way we are."

Marilyn turned to the Merbian witch. "Klarissi. Go fetch Cliodne and tell her she needs stuff for Screamers Poison." With that the Merb nodded and took off towards one of the stick cabins.

Aerrow was confused. "Screamer's Poison?"

"Screamers." Vixxy said to him. "A very nasty variety of Banshee. They primarily create Deadling Sprites."

Deadling Sprites. Those things would haunt Aerrow for many years to come. He swore he'd never forget seeing those on Terra Midoria. Deadling Sprites were very small partciles of light that would try and possess the body of a living thing. Wether it be a person, Merbian, Wallop. Alot of the Deadlings on Terra Midoria seemed to be Talons.  
Once possessed, the poor souls would turn into horrifying monsters. Thier skin would rip off and thier rib cages would expand so majorly that they blasted right out of the bodies, making weapons that could crush.  
One other thing that haunted Aerrow about the Deadlings was the sounds they made. They spoke out a squeamish jibberish. Growling, gargaling noises, squeeks, squeals would come out of the Deadlings mouths, but no understandable words.

Aerrow snapped out of his trip down memory lane and saw the giant tree beast laying Dark Ace on the ground.  
"Thank you, Litho." Lily thanked the creature as if it was a friend and the creature bowed and lumbered off.  
Marilyn, Keira Marie, Ravess and Snipe were gathered around closest to Dark Ace, the others were bystanding. The Merbian witch came back with another Merbian.

Cliodne, the Salemdor Covenants Druidess was a violet colored Merb with blackish purple hair and golden eyes that almost glowed. She wore a navy blue dress with a black cloak over it, hood down. She shooed Snipe and Ravess out of her way to sit on her knees at Dark Ace's side, opposite Keira Marie and Marilyn, who was now standing.

"You are his heart?" She asked Keira Marie. She spoke in a soft tone that seemed to almost echo in a spectral way.

"Excuse me?" Keira Marie asked.

"His heart. You are his heart?"

"Sorry. I don't know-"

The Merb slapped the front of her face and groaned. "You are his "girlfriend". Are you not?"

"Oh, yes. Yes I am." Keira Marie said, a bit embarrassed.

"Give me your hand." Cliodne demanded.  
Keira Marie stretched out her hand towards Cliodne, over Dark Ace's comatose body. Cliodne took it and put her other hand on Dark Ace's forehead. Her bronze fingernails shinning in the moonlight that was coming from inbetween the tree canopies. "He's slipping away fast." She purred.

"Can you save him?" Keira Marie asked.

"No." Cliodne said. "But YOU can."

Keira Marie lowered an eyebrow "I don't understand."

Cliodne sighed. "You mortals..."  
She then quickly drew a dagger, a cerimonial knife and ran it across Keira Marie's hand, making it bleed. Keira Marie gasped as Cliodne held her bleeding hand to her heart and chanted. After that, Cliodne took Keira Marie's hand off her chest and ran a finger through the blood. Everyone watching in astonishment. Amazment. Distust. Confusion. "Come closer to me." Cliodne told Keira Marie. In reponce, the Talon Temptress leaned over until her head was positioned directly above Dark Ace's chest.  
Cliodne took the bloody finger and ran Keira Marie's own blood neatly over her lips. Like lipstick. Keira Marie was confused. Why was she doing this?  
"Reverse the spells effect."

"What?" Keira Marie asked, her lips now ruby red.

"Reverse the spell effect."

"I don't understand."

Cliodne sighed again. "Mortals...Your lips are now rich with the blood of Dark Ace's heart."

"Yes." Keira Marie said. "MY blood."

"Kiss him and reverse the spell the Salemdor Witch cast on him." Cliodne said. "He'll need the blood."

"He's not going to turn into a vampire, is he?" Keira Marie asked.  
Cliodne burst out laughing.

"Silly mortal! Everyone knows vamipres are extinct all over the Atmos!"

Keira Marie scooted backwards and leaned down. As she brought her face closer and closer to Dark Ace's, Aerrow started to shift. He finally had to look away when Keira Marie cupped Dark Ace's face in her hands and pressed her lips against his. After a few moments, Dark Ace got all his color back and could move again.  
Soon, Dark Ace had his arms around Keira Maries back, bringing the kiss into a clear tongue kiss. Aerrow gagged and turned away. Dark Ace broke away from Keira Marie.

"Please tell me I'm kissing YOU now!"

Keira Marie smiled, all the blood from her lips gone. "Yes. It's me, Dark Ace. Keira Marie. The one and only."

Aerrow felt like breaking into tears and walked away. Cliodne not far behind him.


	12. Return of the Nightmare

Chapter 12: Return of the Nightmare 

Aerrow strayed from the crowd like a shy, seclusive child. He didn't notice Cliodne behind him until she spoke up. "You shouldn't comethis close to the Forest all alone. It's not safe."  
Aerrow stayed silent and sat down by a tree. Cliodne sat beside him. "Something is on your mind, child."  
She wasn't asking him, she was telling him.

Aerrow exhaled and pointed towards Dark Ace and Keira Marie, who were holding eachother as if they hadn't seen eachother in years.

"She's my sister. He's the one who murdered our father and broke the Atmos' alliance." Aerrow said. "She's...um..."

"Sleeping with the enemy?" Cliodne finished.

"Yeah." Aerrow sighed. "Why would she just-"

"When I look at Keira Marie...." Cliodne said. "I feel deep pain within her. But when she is near Dark Ace, no matter how evil he is, all the deep pain fades away. She's happy with Dark Ace."

"But-" Aerrow couldn't finish.

"I feel great confusion in you." Cliodne said, soft-spokenly. "Not pain, confusion...You just need to understand her past...I believe she had an ex-husband."

"Yeah." Aerrow said. "A noble Sky Knight named Geoffry. A good mannered man. Wouldn't hurt anybody."

Cliodne closed her eyes and then opened them again. "Everyone has a good and evil side. How you behave depends on which side comes out more offen. For example, Keira Marie brings out the good side of Dark Ace and as a result, he treats her differently then he treats others."

"But- Dark Ace-"

"Like I said. He treats your sister differently then he treats you." Cliodne breathed. "Why else would she still love him in the way she does. She left her other husband, did she not?"

"Yes she did, but-"

"Then perhaps this Geoffry wasn't the gentle, good mannered Sky Knight you thought him to be." Cliodne said.  
She gave Aerrow some to think about. Aerrow remembered Geoffry as a good person and the horror stories that Keira Marie told seemed as if she was talking about a whole different person. Keira Marie told stories about Geoffry hitting her on a daily basis, throwing her down the stairs, smashing a vase that belonged to her aunt over her head and trying to burry her alive. She said Dark Ace and some Talons found her and revived her after they dug her up.  
She also said, Geoffry really got violent when he discovered that thier daughter, Samara was really Dark Ace's child (he had his suspitions when she came out with crimson eyes and blackish hair. She was a Cyclonians baby.).

Cliodne and Aerrows conversation continued until the sound of Dark Ace yelling at someone. They looked over, it was Julia again.

"I'm not falling for it again, you witch!" Dark Ace said. "You get away from me! Get away from all of us!"

"Yeah! Get!" Keira Marie said.

"Oh, I'm not here for anyone." Julia said, darkly. "My friend just wanted to take back something that belongs to him."

"Oh," Keira Marie said. "Who's your friend?"

"Me." A deep, fermiliar voice sounded from behind Keira Marie.  
A cold hand grabbed her arm and spun her around.

Keira Marie starred back into the face that haunted her nightmares for almost eleven years. Geoffry.


	13. Dark Ace VS Geoffry: Fight to the Death

Chapter 13: Dark Ace VS Geoffry: A Fight to the Death

Geoffry could be described as a muscle bound former Sky Knight with blonde hair, blue eyes and a _Thomas Haden Church_ voice. He held horror struck Keira Marie by both arms. "You slimey, slippery, Talon-ized tramp." He growled in her face. "I found you..." He ran his fingers through the black part of her hair. "Hmmm...Look at you now...Not bad, not bad. I never thought you could be strong enough to peirce your nose."

Keira Marie didn't speal, but she looked like she was about to break out in screaming tears. Dark Ace, Ravess and Snipe looked like they were going to explode with rage. Aerrow was starting to wonder about Geoffry.  
He stepped forward. "Geoffry...What the-"

"Aerrow." He said, still holding on to Keira Marie. "Make your father proud and evenge him. Dark Ace didn't only kill you father. He took Ava away from me and turned her against me. He brainwashed her and convinced her I was a danger to her and our daughter."

"OUR daughter!" Dark Ace snapped. "As in ME and KEIRA MARIE'S daughter. Samara Maria Aciah Dark."

"You turned my daughter on me too, you Cyclonian son of a-"

Keira Marie couldn't take it any more, she kicked Geoffry in the shin just as he was about to finish his sentance. Geoffry flinched and let her go for a second, and the seized her again before she could get away.  
Geoffry's hands her hot with years and years of rage and Keira Marie had grown acustom to Dark Ace's cold ones. Aerrow watched in bewilderment as his sister struggled with her life to get away from a man he thought to be partially harmless.

Dark Ace, Ravess and Snipe produced thier weapons.  
"Geoffry...Let her go, now!" Ravess warned.  
Everyone seemed to form a circle around them.

"No." Geoffry said, increasing his grip on Keira Marie's arm. "You took her away from me once, now, I'm taking her back."

"We never took her away." Dark Ace said. "She got away from you and I promised to protect her and Samara from you. I plan to keep that promise."

"But I loved this woman." Geoffry said. "Maybe it was a little tough love, but I'm sorry, Ava."

"NO! No! NO!" Keira Marie yelled. "You always said that! You always said you were sorry and then the next day, you'd hit me again!"

Geoffry back handed Keira Marie across the face and let her fall to his feet. "SHUT UP!"  
Aerrow was so dumbfounded, that the slap seemed to echo. He ran out to stand with the Talons, now that he had seen Geoffry'strue colors.  
Dark Ace bolted to Keira Marie's aid. Her cheek was red. She grabbed on to him and held on for dear life as if Dark Ace had pulled her from deep water. Geoffry stepped forward, which made Keira Marie burry her face in Dark Ace's shoulder like a frightened child.  
"Get your filthy Cyclonian hands off my woman, THORN!"

Dark Ace jumped at the sound of his real name. "She's not your woman anymore, Geoffry." Dark Ace snapped, handing Keira Marie over to Ravess, who escorted her to safety, behind the crowd of people. "She's with me now." Dark Ace finished.

"AVA is coming home with me." Geoffry said. "So is Samara..."

"Over my dead body." Dark Ace growled, raising his red, glowing blade.

Geoffry drew his blade, that was still blue. "That could be arranged..."  
This enraged Aerrow, he stepped forwards to help Dark Ace fight. "Geoffry...Leave my sister alone! You've put her through enough!"

"Aerrow. This is my fight." Dark Ace said. "Get back."

"He'll pay for what he did to Ava...or Keira Marie." Aerrow said.

"Yes, I'll make him pay..." Dark Ace said, Cliodne and Stork guided Aerrow out of the circle right before Dark Ace and Geoffry started to duel.  
The quiet night was disturbed with the clash of blades and the sound of Keira Marie yelling: "Get him, Dark Ace!"

The fight lasted for what seemed like hours. Dark Ace and Geoffry cut eachother and blood was flying. The two men disarmed eachother, but then the duel turned into a fist fight. In the fist fight, it seemed like Geoffry had the advanage becasue he was twice Dark Ace's size. He always was.  
Geoffry grabbed Dark Ace by the throat. "Not so tough without anybody here to help you, are ya?"  
He seemed to forget about everyone else, until he got hit in the back of the head by Ravess' bow. "So what if I'm out numbered two to one..." Snipe stepped in, but Geoffry was still scoffing. "Three to one." Keira Marie stepped in, her energy blade glowing. "Four to one. Ava, put that down...You're gonna hurt yourself."

"My name is Keira Marie." She growled.

"Your name is Ava!" Geoffry yelled back at her. "Look at what the Cyclonians turned you into. Your father was be ashamed."

"They never turned me into this..."Keira Marie said. "You did."

Geoffry lundged at Keira Marie, only to run into Dark Ace, who stepped inbetween them. A cracking sound was heard and Keira Marie gasped.  
After feeling something painful, Geoffry looked down to see that Dark Ace's retreived blade was through his body. Dark Ace ripped the suprisingly clean blade out of Geoffry's torso and watched him drop.

Keira Marie starred at what was left of Geoffry as Dark Ace pulled her close and held her. "He'll never bother your again, Keira Marie." Dark Ace wispered in her ear. "And this time...I mean it."  
Keira Marie wrapped her arm arms around Dark Ace in return and started to cry.

After seeing what had just happened, Aerrow had a whole different point of view about Keira Maries past, and her relationship with Dark Ace.


	14. Dark Ace Comforts Keira Marie

Chapter 14: Dark Ace Comforts Keira Marie

**Please note that all my dirty humor is co-written by SexySkyla66**

As Keira Marie sat on her cot in the cabin that was offered to her, Dark Ace was having a conversation with Cliodne. The violet colored Merb spoke in a very serious voice, that still spectrally echoed.

"She is in much distress." Cliodne said. "She's vulnerable...Very vulnerable."

"What do you mean? "Vulnerable." Dark Ace said, sounding concerned.

"When your emotions are weak, so is your will to resist demonic possession." Cliodne simplifyed. "And there are demons all around us...not just here or on Midoria...There are demons on ALL terras."

"English, please..." Dark Ace breathed.

Cliodne sighed. "Keep an eye on her and if she doesn't seem right...call me and I'll see if she needs an exorcism."

"Oh, alright..."

.......................................................................................................

Meanhwile, while Keira Marie started to cry, Aerrow and Piper hid in the closet. They didn't even know why. They were about to come out, when Dark Ace walked into the cabin and shut the door.

"What did she say?" Keira Marie asked, letting her tear fall down her cheek.

"She said...everything will be okay." Dark Ace lied.  
Aerrow and Piper watched from the closet as Dark Ace dried Keira Marie's eyes for her and began to kiss her on the lips.

Aerrow looked away, but he could still hear everything, even Keira Marie when she started to breath hard. "Can't he find another way to comfort her?" Aerrow asked, quietly.

"Shhh." Piper shushed him.

"You WANT to watch?"

Piper didn't answer.

Aerrow peeked out of the closet to see Keira Marie and Dark Ace standing in the middle of the room, Keira Marie with her eyes closed, Dark Ace licking and possibly nibbling on her neck.

"Ouch!" Keira Marie wispered. "You bit me."

"Sorry," Dark Ace purred, holding her close. "Sometimes I like to think I'm that guy from that book you were reading...What's his name? George?"

Keira Marie laughed. "Edward."

"I knew that." Dark Ace said. He went back to her neck.

Aerrow was thinking differently about Dark Ace and Keira Marie/Ava's relationship, but he was still uneasy with watching him make her moan in sexual pleasure. He was starting to think why he and Piper were there and why they didn't step out of the closet, appologize and leave before anything MAJOR happened.  
Aerrow felt like throwing up when Keira Marie held Dark Ace tightly around the back as her breathing got louder.  
"Oh, Dark Ace." She breathed, tilting her head back so he could reach the front of her neck.

Keira Marie sat back down on the cot and Aerrow was shakily waiting for Dark Ace to push her back to lay on top of her. Which he did.  
Aerrow hid his eyes, but he could still hear Dark Ace and Keira Marie groaning and plugging his ears didn't seem to help. Piper too had looked away, she was figetting with her hands.  
"Ah, you amaze me, you know that?" They heard Dark Ace say.

"Oh, Dark Ace, Ah!" Keira Marie screamed.  
Aerrow dared to look, seeing Dark Ace with his shirt off was worse then Aerrow thought it would be, but he was thankful his pants were still on. Keira Marie was still fully dressed, with her legs wrapped around Dark Ace's waist.

Dark Ace moved down to her neck again, and after a minute or two, Keira Marie screamed. "You bit me! You never nibbled that time, you IT me!"

"Sorry?" Dark Ace said. He screamed himself when Keira Marie menacingly ran her fingernails down Dark Ace's back, it was surprising she never drew blood.

Piper started to wave her hand in front of her face. "Is it getting hot in here?"

"Do you have earplugs?" Aerrow asked.

"I don't know." Piper responded.

When Dark Ace started to tickle Keira Marie's side, she started to scream again. "OH GOD!"

"She screams when she gets tickled?" Piper asked.

"It's a family thing..." Aerrow let slip. "We all do it."

"Really?" Piper asked, she started to tickle Aerrow.

"Ah!" Aerrow squealed.

"Oh, Aerrow?" Keira Marie said.

Dark Ace jumped. "Did you just call me "Aerrow"?"

"No, no, no. Eww. No." Keira Marie said. "I thought I heard Aerrow."

"Piper!" He said from the closet. "We're not supposed to be here, rememeber?!"

Dark Ace opened the closet and Aerrow fell out. Piper stood in the closet and Aerrow was laying at thier feet. They both disappeared.  
"He's lucky I don;t make him watch..." Dark Ace said as soon as the door closed again. He grabbed Keira Marie again. "He would have sat there and watched it...and enjoyed it as much as I would!"

He licked Keira Marie's neck again as she moaned and prepared to lay back down.


	15. Juiliannia's Plan

Chapter 15: Juiliannia's Plan

In the silence of night, Cliodne was the only one awake, next to Finn and Aerrow, who were walking around the Covanents Camp. She stood by the bon-fire, starring into the flames.  
Aerrow and Finn just looked at her, she didn't even turn around and she knew they were there.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, children?" She asked, still gazing into the flames.

Finn and Aerrow jumped. Sometimes Aerrow didn't know what scared him more. Druids, Deadlings or Dark Ace without shirt on.  
"Ummm, Cliodne." He said. "We were just-"

Cliodne chuckled. "You have questions?"

"Why is the Salemdor Witch so evil?" Aerrow asked.

The Druidess Merb sighed. "It is my fault Juiliannia is the way she is..."

"You're fault?" Finn asked. "How so?"

"Juiliannia and I were in training together. As children we were the best of friends. One gloomy day, I accidentally killed our trainer. As the Warloc fell to the ground, I paniced. I had such a good reputation as a young witch. Juiliannia was a trouble maker. She told me she's take the blame...We never expected the Salemdorians to chase her into the forest." A single tear fell from Cliodne's golden eye. "I went looking for her, but I couldn't find her.  
"She possessed the body of the Mayors daughter and took control of the towns people, having every magical round up and killed. Us lucky ones managed to escape. Amiee Adolpha was lucky enough to have you and the GunWitch save her."

"Why can't Vixxy just take Juiliannia down?" Finn asked. "She's the-"

"The Midorian GunWitch is the most powerful sorceress in the known Atmos." Cliodne said. "However, Vixentina is still very young. She's not ready to take on something as dangerous as a Screamer."

"What's the difference between a Screamer and a regular Banshee?" Aerrow asked.

"The Deadling sprites they produce." Was Cliodne's answer. She was starting to sound like a female Stork. "On Midoria did you have the misfotune to come across a Deadling?"

"Yes." Aerrow and Finn answered.

"Imagine one of those...but ten times worse..."  
'Worse' seemed to echo. What could be worse then a phycotic thing that used to be a normal person trying to rip you apart?  
"Ten times as dead..."

"Is that possible?" Finn asked.

"Anything is possible." Cliodne said. "If you believe..."

"Then I won't believe in them!" Finn said.

The Druidess laughed. "If only it was that easy, child....Now both of you, get some sleep and in the morning, I'll punch you in the right direction so you can defeat Juiliannia and be on your way."

On the way to thier cabin, Finn muttered. "I don't believe in pixies, I don't believe in pixies!"

Cliodne jumped and turned to him. "WHAT?!" She snapped. "My best friend is a Pixie, you disrespectful little-"

"Finn!" Aerrow yelled. "I thought I told you to stop offending the witches and warlocs of Salemdor!"

...............................................................................................................

Soon after, the rain started to fall. Cliodne retired into her cabin. Keira Marie, as she slept, swore she could hear her fathers voice in her head. Her father seemed to be calling her to come.  
Keira Marie moved Dark Ace's arm off of her without waking him and got up and left her cabin.  
"Ava." The voice called. "Come here..."  
Keira Marie followed the voice. She didn't even see Piper. Who had gotten up for a glass of water.

"Keira Marie." Piper wispered. "Where are you going?" Keira Marie didn't respond, she was in a curious trance.  
Piper followed Keira Marie what seemed like miles away from the camp. To a large clearing by a body of water. A grotto.  
She couldn't believe her eyes. Keira Marie and Aerrow's father, Lightning Strike was actually there, calling her.

"There you are, Ava."

"Dad?"

"Come!" The Sky Knight opened his arms. "I forgive you..."

Keira Marie, clearly overwhelmed by joy and sadness, through herself into her fathers arms. Only to have him shapeshift into a nightmare. Geoffry with paler skin was holding her.  
"Fooled you!" He laughed. Keira Marie screamed and tried to get away.

Piper backed away, terrifyed. When she backed into something, her heart stopped. She turned around, hoping to see a tree. She looked back into the dark, golden eyes of Carver, the rogue Atmosian Sky Knight.

Everything happened too fast. All Piper knew was that she was suddenly tied to one of the larger trees beside Keira Marie. Julia had almost crushed them with the vines that wrapped around thier chests and stomachs, binding them to the tree.

"Julia?" Piper asked.

"Juiliannia." She corrected.

"The Mayors daughter is The Salemdor Witch?!" Keira Marie gasped.

"No." Juiliannia answered. "I needed a body. So I borrowed Julia's. With the power of the Mayor on my side, I could have all other magicals eliminated, which would eliminate my threats."

"The Mayor-" Piper started.

"Rest his soul..." Juiliannia cooed.

"You KILLED him?" Keira Marie was horrifyed. "Who will run the Terra?"

"Me, of chorus." Juiliannia laughed. "I invited Geoffry and Carver to help me. Carver and I have grown...Close?"

Piper and Keira Marie coughed in distust when Carver kissed Juiliannia.  
"What do you need with us?" Piper asked.

"Geoffry and Carver have agreed to help me with my reign of blood over the Atmos if I help them eliminate thier biggest annoyences...Dark Ace and Aerrow...You girls...are going to lure them here..."

"How will they know we're here?" Keira Marie asked Juiliannia.

"Cliodne can see what's happening and will bring them...right, Cli?" The Witch laughed. With a flick of her wrists, Juiliannia got more vines to lash around Piper and Keira Marie's faces, covering thier mouths. Juiliannia left them to thier muffled cries and turned to her male advocates.  
"Now...we wait..."

....................................................................................................

Dark Ace ran out of his cabin, to find Aerrow. They both woke up from the same nightmare. Cliodne was back infront of the fire...that was still burning.  
"Yes." She said. "What you both just saw DID happen...Time is of the essence..."

..........................................................................................................

**Note from the Author:**

**Yes I know, Geoffry is supposed to be dead. THAT will be explained in the next chapter. **


	16. A Friend Returns

Chapter 16: A Friend Returns

Cliodne gathered up the Storm Hawks, Ravess, Snipe, Dark Ace and the Salemdor Covenant.  
Salemdors squadron consisted of four members. Marilyn was the Sky Knight/Witch and leader. Cliodne, Druidess. A Dotan warloc named Hants, demonolgist and an attartive girl with light clolored skin and sliver white hair, ice blue eyes. Her name was Sasharissa.  
Sasharissa was a creature known as a Dyrad.  
Cliodne earlier explained that Dyrads were like more mild looking and acting Deadlings that are tied to certain elemets. Sasharissa was a wind Dyrad. Her own breeze flowed around her.

"Everyone." Marilyn said. "Juiliannia will undeniably have Deadlings crawling all over the outskirts of the Grotto. To reach it undetected, and thus with all of us in ome peice, we're going to take the old war tunnels under the town hall. They were built for refugees during the Great Salemdorian Battle of-"

"The 14th century, the century of darkness." Piper said. "GunWitch, Ivanna the Invincible and her Oracle, Sir Lee Christoph."

Marilyns eyes grew big. "Wow...Someones been studying her history."

"Piper and I looked back on all the GunWitches and Orcales of the Atmos." Vixxy expalined.

"Anyways," Marilyn continued on. "We'll leave for the tunnels now, but not all of us are going."

"Only the two squardrons will go, joined by the Dark Ace." Cliodne said. "The other Cyclonians and the three Cascadians will stay here and help mind the camp."

Moon was content, but Star and Night were not happy at all.  
"Okay, listen, Miss Druidess." Night said.

"Where ever Stork goes, we go." Star finished.

"Starshade, Nightshade. I can assure you that Stork WILL be fine at the hands of three powerful sorceresses." Cliodne said.

"We trust Vixxy." Star said.

"It's YOU we're worried about." Night growled.

"We see the way you look at him..." Star finished.

Cliodne threw her head back and laughed.  
"You two actually think I, a powerful Druidess would waste my time with a mere mortal?"

"Yeah." The twins spoke insyncly.

"Well I wouldn't." Cliodne said, oddly snobby like.  
Stork snorted.

"Anyways, back to the plan." Marilyn spoke. "The rest of us will go through the tunnels and come out."

"Why the tunnels?" Finn asked.

"We need to use the tunnels, Finn, because if we do run into some Deadlings, we have a closed space so more can't close in around us and trap us in a circle of..." Vixxy looked for a word.

"Doom?" Stork sujested.

"Exactly." Vixxy said.

"So, what are the chances we will see some Dealings down in the tunnels?" Aerrow asked, hoping for a good answer.

"About fifty fifty." Sasharissa said. It was the responce Aerrow didn't want at all. He wasn't looking forward to facing Deadlings again. He was starting to think he had a brand new worst fear.

"And, like I said before." Cliodne said as they started walking. "The main differnce between Banshees and Screamers is the Deadlings they produce. These Deadlings will be worse...much, much, much, MUCH worse then the ones you incountered on Terra Midoria."

"I didn't even think that was possible." Vixxy said. "ME. The GunWitch."

"Keep your Oracle and friends close, GunWitch." Cliodne said. "Juiliannia's main ambition is to kill you. If we didn't need your power, you would be staying."

Vixxy nodded. "It'll take more then another witch to kill ME."

"Don't be so cocky-"

"I was on Midoria since I was ELEVEN years old, battling Zeeknopses, Banshees, Deadling Talons, Giested Sky Knights, Cy-Merbs, Flathead demons and my own emotions." Vixxy said. "I think I can handle a Screamer."

"You are still very young." Marilyn said.

"I know."

"Vixxy." Ravess said. "Just be careful."

"I will, Mom. Don't worry about me."

................................................................................................

A small grey bird flew over to Juiliannia and started to tweet.  
Juiliannia, using energy through Carver, was starting to reguvinate. Her skin, eyes and hair were all staring to gain its color back. However, it seemed that Carver was starting to lose his. Geoffry, brought back from deaths brink by Juiliannia was pale and pastey. Almost as if he were a Deadling himself, or on his way to becoming one.

Piper and Kiera Marie were still strapped to the tree with the vines still holding their faces, had both grown quiet. Piper could feel Keira Marie tremble with fear whenever Geoffry came near. She would shake and flinch. Sometime she even started crying, Piper after a while, starting to cry with her, but she wasn't sure why.

Once the bird was done tweeting, Juiliannia turned to Carver and Geoffry.  
"They're using the tunnels to get here."

"We could go wait for them." Carver said, hopefully. "I can't wait to see Aerrow again."

Juiliannia thought for a while. "Hmmm...Yeah. Go wait at the end of the tunnels, just in case they DO make it through the tunnels."

"Where ARE the tunnels?" Carver asked.

"I'll have a friend show you the way." Juiliannia answered as she summoned over a creature that made Carver jump.  
It was clearly a female Salemdorian civillian at one time. She had a thin body that was wrapped in a yellow dress that was now ripped to bits and so dirty with mud and possibly blood it had black patches. She had skin that was scabbed to ground meat and her head was...what was it? Her head had no hair, no face. It looked as if she was a giant turnip with a body attatched. The creature squealed in a funny language and bowed to her master.  
"What IS that thing?" Carver asked.

"Carver." Juiliannia said. "This is a Deadling. A Screamer made Deadling."

........................................................................................................

Since Cliodne advised everyone stay off any noisy skimmers, it was a along walk to the tunnels. But finally the group reached the town. It was differnent. It was destroyed.  
The buildings, all structures were all gone, in ruines. It looked as if a twister and an earthquake went through the town at the same time. Cliodne, Marilyn, Sasharissa and Hants lead everyone to the town hall (or what was left of the town hall).

"Ze tunnels are-" Hants started in his German accent.

"Crawling from top to bottom with Deadlings." A females voice said.  
A green Merbian girl in black pants and boots and a grey tank top stepped out with a bow in her hand and some arrows in a quiver on her back. Her golden eyes shinned through her black-green hair. She looked like a slighter paler version of a female Stork.  
Stork blinked.

"You look familiar." Stork said. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

She smiled a little and rested her bow on her shoulder. "Hello, Stork." She purred.

Stork felt his heart stop. "Gail?"

"Yes...It's me." She said. "The NEW me."


	17. To The Tunnels

Chapter 17: To The Tunnels

"Gail?" Aerrow asked. "WOW! Look at you!"

"Yeah." Stork added. "You're pretty again."

Gail blushed. "I know. Thank you."  
The Merbain Banshee had gone from a hideous, living dead creature to a stunning, almost angelic being. Everyone who was on Mirdoria remembered her as a living nightmare with dead skin that was starting to peel off her body. Her hair had gone from mangled and dirty to streight along her back and a shimmery greenish black. Also, she switched the sheet like dress she wore to her clean bounty hunters outfit.  
In a nutshell, Gail no longer looked like she crawled out of the watery ground. However, she was still soft spoken.

"Whoa....whoa....whoa...whoa." Finn said. "After what she did to us on Terra Midoria, you're all gonna run up and hug her like a friend right now?"

"I actually agree with Stupid." Dark Ace said.

"SEE?!" Finn said. "Dark Ace agrees with me!" He paused. "Wait a sec...Stupid?!"

"See how slow you are?" Dark Ace asked with that smirk on his face. "Meet my two pals...Stu and Pid..."

The argument started:

"I'm not stupid!"

"Oh please...You RE-DEFINE blonde!"

"Blondes have more fun."

"Brunettes remember what they did that night."

"You don't look like a brunette, Greeny."

"My hair's green-black, Bimbo."

Gail stepped between them.  
"LET US...get back to business before this gets bloodier then my house was on Midoria...Shall we?"

Dark Ace glarred at Gail.  
"You murdered my little cousin, who was only thirteen and shouldn't have been there..."

"I know...I'm sorry."

"You kidnapped my girlfriend..." Dark Ace gestured towards Aerrow. "...HIS sister and used her to summon a big, ugly creature known as the-"

"Flathead King...I'm sorry." Gail said, keeping the same, calm tone in her voice.

"You massacred seven hundred Talons to make your 'Deadlings'. "

"Sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry is all you've got?"

"Yes." Gail said.

"You better start redeeming yourself before you earn my respect!" Dark Ace snapped. "Murderer!"

"I deserve that." Gail said. "And about the redeeming...I'll start by showing you the way to Keira Marie and Piper."

"You know where they are?" Aerrow asked, speaking Cliodne's thoughts.

"Yeah." Gail said. "I've been undercover as a Deadling to watch over Juiliannia."

"You can do that?" Aerrow asked Gail.

The Banshee nodded her head, blinked her eyes acouple times and shapeshifted. Her head morphed into the turnip shape and she started with the jibberish.  
Right before Finn could scream, Gail grabbed and subdued him. Her head shifted back to normal, her hair fell back to her back and her bangs back to around her golden eyes.  
"Shhh!" She said. "Screamer Deadlings are attracted by screams...That's why they're called 'Screamer' Deadlings."

"What you just shifted into was a Deadling?" Finn breathed as Gail moved her hand.

"Yes." Gail answered.

"I told you they were worse then the ones you'd remember from Midoria." Cliodne said.

"Uh huh." Gail said. "They don't got crap on my Deadlings, and you're gonna see millions of 'em in there." She getsured towards the tunnels. "Wall to wall of smelly, jibberish speaking, dead phychopaths. You're in over your heads."

"Wait a minute." Finn and Dark Ace said together towards Gail.

"No!" Aerrow said. "Deadlings wall to wall!"

"The Banshee is right." Cliodne said.

"With that amount of Screamer Deadlings, even Vixentina will be in over her head." Marilyn finished.

"You're not sujesting she come with us, are you?" Dark Ace asked the two witches. "She'll probably try to murder us all again."

"If I wanted to murder you that bad, I would have done it on Terra Mirdoria." Gail scoffed.

"STOP ARGUING!" Vixxy yelled. "I don't trust her either. Remember, she cut me up...BUT, we have to just put all these aside and bring her with us, Dad."

Dark Ace starred into Vixxys violet eyes. "Okay." He sighed. "BUT!" He grabbed Gail by the arm as they entered the tunnel. "I'll be watching you..."  
The banshee nodded.

.................................................................................................

Piper and Keira Marie woke up after feeling the slash of the vines coming off of thier faces.  
Juiliannia was leaning against the tree across the foggy grotto. She was now fully reguvinated. Her skin was still pale, but more clear then pastey. Her hair was wavey and black as the night around her. Her new dress was leathery black on the top and the bottom was a greyish crinaline.  
"What's on your mind, Piper?"

"You know my name?" Piper asked.

"I'm the Salemdor Witch." Juiliannia said. "I know everyone."

"How'd you end up with Carver?" Keira Marie asked.

"You mean 'How'd Carver end up with me'? Atmos' Single Hotline."  
Piper and Keira Marie gave her an odd look. "Even an evil, dead witch gets lonely...The rest is too complicated to explain..."

Piper paused. "The story...Is it all true?"

"Every bit of it. They chased me off into the forest and I froze to death...Right where your standing."

Piper and Keira Marie shifted, but the vines were too tight against their chests. Keira Marie's chest suffered more, the one time she didn't wear her armour to bed.  
"All those children?" Piper continued. "Did you really-"

"Kidnap them, kill them and draw their blood?" Juiliannia asked. "Yes."

"Why?" Keira Marie sounded horrifyed.

"Blood is very good for the skin with the right rictual." Juiliannia answered. "And I found out, the younger the blood, the better it was. Do I look 500 years old?"

"So you slaughtered hundreds, thousands, millions of Salemdorian children and devsiated families to be young and beautiful again?" Keira Marie now sounded discusted.

"Are you kidding me, temptress?" Juliannia said. "I'd slaughter every single child in the Atmos for a Klondike bar."

Keira Marie and Piper failed to see the humor in her statement.


	18. Geists

Chapter 18:Geists

Juiliannia senced the presence of the mortals. They were drawing closer and closer. "Why haven't the Deadlings stopped them?"

"Cause they're kicking them all back to where they belong!" Piper said triumphently. Only to have Juiliannia lash the vines back over her and Keira Maries mouths.

Juiliannia began to pace. "I need some Geists...but how do I get a living person or two?"

She caught Carvers attention and he stopped his card game with Geoffry and scramled over to her. "I have an idea..."

"Spit it out." The witch said.

"Why have only two living peoples...when you could have four?"

"Go on. Go on..."

"If I brought you my old Squadron, the Red Eagles...Would you do away with them in exchange for blood. Pure blood and a lot of if. Four peoples worth." Carver stuttered.

Juiliannia hesitated. "Hmmm...That's alot of blood. Okay, Carver...Bring me the Red Eagles and I'll make myself four Geists..." She smiled slightly. "Keep thinking this way and I won't make you sleep outside the Deadlings."

"Meh. I just want my chums gone..." Carver said. He called over to Juiliannia, who was opening a secret door in a tree not far from the hostages. "What's a Geist?"

"Geists?" Juliannia said. "To simplify...You mortals call them 'Zombies'."  
Carver understood.

"Okay, Juiliannia."

"Oh, and you can stop calling me that." The witch said. "Juliannia is ancient Salemdorian for 'greatest of evils'. My real name is Shaundi."

"Shaundi?"

"Shaundi Criss."

"Pretty. And I'll remember it in a month from now. Only two sylables prior to the six in...what was it?"

Shaundi cut him off. "Thank you...I always thought it was pretty. Now shut up."

....................................................................................................

Aerrow was starting to think they had been knocking down Deadlings for hours. Gail had said "One last wave! Let's take 'em out." about seven times.  
After another wave of smelly, screeching turnip headed monsters, everyone was exhausted. Gail had had enough. She dropped her bow and took a DEEP breath. Once she started screaming, everyone was reminded of the sound. It was like nails on a chalkboard, but majorly ampilfyed. All the Deadlings retreated with thier own screeches.

"Wow." Aerrow said, his ears ringing.

"Banshee's have a bit of power over Screamer Deadlings...but not Screamers themselves...The Salemdor witch is actually...my superior..." Gail said.

"Nice." Vixxy giggled.

Once the tunnel was scalled, it came to a cellar door with light shinning through the cracks. Gail listened for a while and then pushed up on the two doors. They opened with a loud, chilling SHREE.  
Aerrow looked around the room they came out in. "Is this a kitchen?"

"It's the kitchen to the old Shelter." Marilyn said. "How?"

"She switched the tunnels...How else?" Cliodne answered.

"How?" Dark Ace repeated Marilyn.

"She's the Salemdor witch." Cliodne said. "She has become the TERRA almost...If that makes any sence."

Everyone got uneasy when screaming was heard down the hallway that was streight ahead.  
"What was that?" Finn asked.

"Piper and Keira Marie?" Vixxy guessed, hoping she was wrong.

"No, no, no, no." Gail said. "I'm a Banshee, so I know my screams...That was three, maybe four or five MEN."

"Let's get down that hallway." Aerrow semi-shouted.

"Lead the way, noble Sky Knight." Gail said, taiking a bow.  
Everyone slipped past Gail and she followed shortly after sliding the cellar doors shut again. Dark Ace was still eying her like she was going to kill someone right there, she knew she deserved it, but was also getting sick of it.

.................................................................................................

As Shaundi sent the four newly dead ceatures off down the tunnels loctated under the roots of the tree Piper and Keira Marie were tied to, Carver shook his head.  
"That was clearly the most discusting thing I've ever seen." He said.

Shaundi snorted. "Then you weren't watching when I turned that prison guard into a Deadling before I broke you out." She said. "The other inmates were vomiting and cowering from me at the same time."

Piper hoisted her head and looked at Shaundi. She wondered why she switched her clothing. The witch traded in her dress for black pants and dark blue boots and the same corsette.  
When Shaundi turned her back, Piper noticed something terrifying. Shaundi had a symbol of evil and exorcism tattooed on her back.  
Shaundi turned to Piper.

"The mark of the SCREAMER. It was BRANDED on my back during my banishment!" She said before turning away again to talk to Carver.

..................................................................................................

Cliodne sighed. "For the fourth time, Blonde one...Don't call them Zombies...We say Giests on this terra."

"Okay." Finn said. "Geists...Not Zombies...Got it..."  
Just then four things bigger then Deadlings slowly pulled themselves out of the hallways walls and started to hobble around. Finn screamed out and that got thier attention.  
"ZOMBIES!"

Cliodne rolled her eyes.


	19. First and Final Curse

Chapter 19: First and Final Curse

Aerrow felt his heart stop when he looked at the clothes/uniforms on the Giests. "What the? It's the Red Eagles!"

"It can't be..." Vixxy said. "It just can't! How? Why? When? How?"

"Okay..." Stork said. "We have a bigger problem."

"What?" Aerrow asked, rather nievely.

"They're coming for us..." Junko wimpered.

Surely enough, the zombifyed Red Eagles were very slowly and groggily closing in on the group. Dark Ace stepped up. "I know how ti kill these things..." He said.

"We beat them down?" Junko asked.

"Okay...you CAN beat them down,but they'll keep getting up and getting up and we'll be here for hours." Cliodne intercepted.

"How do we kill zombies?" Finn asked. "...Or Geists...Zombie Geists."

Dark Ace just starred at the four monsters as they came closer. The Storm Hawks clutching their weapons and shaking. "There's an old expression." He said as he lashed forwards to the first Geist and in a flash of red, the creatures head hit the ground, followed later by his body. "Chop off the head and the body will die." Dark Ace finished as he took down the second Geist.

"Only two more." Aerrow said.

It only took a couple minutes for Gail and Marilyn to fully take out the last two.  
Aerrow saluted to the fallen Red Eagles. "I promise, guys. She will pay."

"Someone tell me how they ended up here..." Vixxy said.

"They probably got a distress call." Dark Ace answered her. "C'mon. We have a Screamer to take down and some girls to save."

..............................................................................................

A Deadilng came lumbering up to Shaundi and Carver. He started speaking the groggy jibberish. With each demented squeak, click and growl, Shaundi grew more and more unhappy.  
"The Geist couldn't stop them either?"

"Well, they weren't very quick..." Carver spoke. "And Aerrow...well-"  
Carver stopped when he saw the sour look on Shaundi's face. "I'll shut up now..."

"Thank you." Shaundi said, looking over at Piper and Keira Marie, who were looking right back at her with scared eyes. "What to do with you? What to do with you?" The Screamer pondered as the two started to tremble.

Geoffry walked over. "You want Carver and I to so something?"

"The enemy will be here soon..." Shaundi said. "Take them down to the root cavern...I'll be there shortly."  
She then released Piper and Keira Marie from the vines on the tree and watched Carver and Geoffry take them down underground.  
"I'll take care of the mortals myself..."

So she waited. She waited, and waited, and waited, and waited.  
Finally, Dark Ace and Aerrow, weapons drawn, lead Cliodne, Marilyn, Gail and the other Storm Hawks(including Vixxy) out of the shadowy trees. Shaundi started laughing. "Cliodne." She said to the violet merb. "You're looking well."

"Same to you, Juiliannia." Cliodne replyed. "For someone who's been slaughtering children and absorbing thier blood to feed her vanity, you're looking quiet well yourself. You've truly earned the title of "The greatest of evil", Shaundi."

"Shaundi?" Aerrow repeated.

"How could such a beautiful name be given to such a...a..." Gail couldn't finish.

"I wasn't born this way!" Shaundi snapped. "In fact...I shouldn't even be here now..." She pointed a sharp, black-blue fingernail at Cliodne. "You...You should have the mark of the Screamer upon your back...NOT ME! You killed him...NOT ME! You Betrayed me, Cliodne!"  
Little did Shaundi know...Vixxy was sneaking her way around her to catch her by suprise...A plan she didn't go over. Everyone was wondering what she thought she was doing or thinking.

Cliodne, however, continued to talk to, and thus, distract Shaundi.  
"Shaundi. How was I supposed to know they were going to do that to you? We were both only children."

"Wait a minute..." Finn said to Vixxy. "Wouldn't that make Cliodne about five hundred something years old too? What? Has she been slaughtering kids too?"

Shaundi's attention moved to Finn. She somehow knew what he was. "You're the GunWitch's Oracle?" She asked with a snicker.

"That's right." He replyed, clearly being himself.  
Vixxy, worried that Shaundi might attack Finn, flipped the GunRod over and held it in the position to take fire.

Shaundi remained stationary and continued to snicker and mock. "Forgive me for starring...Just....I expected someone a little more..." She searched for a word. "Gothic?...No...Well, I expected more."

Vixxy stepped forward and stretched out her arm to summon Mephist. The raven was then pirched on her arm after the regualr burst of dust and feathers.  
"Mephist!" Vixxy ordered. "Peck her eyes out!"  
With that, the raven took off towards the Screamer. Nobody liked the smile Shaundi had on her face.

The Screamer retaliated.  
Stretching out her arm, she called out: "Zcorch! Repel the raven, Mephist!"  
Shaundi's spirit animal, was clearly, the bat. A huge, black and brown bat with ivory white, razor sharp teeth almost covered her arm before it took off.  
Mephist and Zcorch both multiplyed into an army of ravens and bats. The two opposing malitia's colided. Soon, the air was plagued with a cloud of feathers and blood sprays and a sound barrier of caws and squeaks.  
In the black and brown haze, Vixxy and Shaundi could be seen shoot magic spells at eachother, like something out of a fantasy novel (or in Finn's case, movie).  
Bolts of dark blue lightning seemed to shoot from Shaundi's fingertips, and when Vixxy blocked them by holding the GunRod infront of her, it would disitergrate in a huge flash of white. Vixxy then whipped pulses of purple at Shaundi, but the Screamer had no rouble blocking it with her bare hands.

As the colorful fight raged on, the Storm Hawks tried to get in to help, but the wall of battling animals was too thick. Aerrow couldn't push anything aside without one of the Zcorchs sinking its teeth into his hand.  
Vixxy was on her own.

Worried that Aerrow might get infected with something, Cliodne splashed a clear, but thick liquid on to his injured hand from out of a vile she had with her. After a mild burning, the two bite marks were gone.

"Cliodne." Finn said. "Get us in there to help Vixxy..."  
Little did Finn know, he was talking to a very confused looking Gail. The two merbs weren't sure if he was mocking them, having fun, or just being Finn.

"We can't." The real Cliodne answered.

"Didn't you see what happened when Aerrow tried to get in?" Marilyn spoke Gail's thoughts.

"You guys are magicals." Junko intercepted. "Destroy all the bats."

"But I we do that, we may destroy Mephist as well..." Cliodne said regetably. "Vixentina must finish this battle on her own."

"She's doomed." Stork said.

"Well..." Dark Ace spoke. "She seemed to be doing okay..."

Right after that moment, Shaundi casted a spell that was more of a greenish-blue color then just dark blue and once Vixxy blocked it, te GunRod turned to dust and fell apart in her hands. Soon the big detailed weapon was nothing but a pile of dust on the ground and Vixxy was vulnerable.  
Unluckily for Vixxy, Shaundi also knew her major powers couldn't work without the GunRod. Shaundi fired a pulse of navy blue light out of her palms and sent Vixxy flying back.

Vixxy started to look pale as she bled from her chest and face. It was as if she was iron masked again and it just got removed. She struggled to her feet as Shaundi turned her back. As she was turned and looking at the other Storm Hawks, Vixxy began to mutter something. It wasn't english.

Shaundi cleared away the wall of animals. Zcorch returned to her and disappeared, while Mephist pirched on Vixxy's shoulder as she fought to stand, keeping her hands on her knees for support and still mumbling whatever she was saying, which seemed to be directed towards Shaundi.

The Screamers attention automaticly moved to Finn. Her skin grew even more pale. Soon her skin was so white, she seemed to glow like a dark angel.  
"They say as an Oracle draws his last breath, he can hear the dying screams of his GunWitch telepathicly." She was preparing a deadly attack.

As she breathed in to scream and the others prepared for the worst, Vixxy yelled out the last of her statement in English. That was when it was clearly, a curse.

"Shaundi Garlanda Loveless Criss!" She said very firmly consituring her condition. "If I am to go down, so shall thee! Thee, in the company of the sun, shall be no more mortal then thy Oracle or mine! In the moon, thy shall be as thee are now! I, Vixentina Ravenanna Dark, sacrifice my life power so thee can no longer be a threat to the lit Atmos!"

Right as Vixxy finished her 'statement', the sun rised and shinned on the Screamer. As she hid her eyes from the light, as did everyone else, she changed.  
Shaundi's hair lighten more and more until it was no lighter then Carver's hair, her eyes were a light saphire blue and her skin darkened into a nice tanned color.  
She looked alive and well, because she was alive and well.

"She looks...like her old self." Cliodne said, dumbfounded.

Shaundi ran over to the water to look at her reflection, and when she saw how normal(yet still very attractive) she looked, she spun around in a rage towards Vixxy.  
"What have you done to me?"

"I turned you mortal until the next sunset." Vixxy chucked. "AND you can only go Screamer again when the moon is out!"

Shaundi screamed in rage, but it was a normal scream and after hearing that, she fled.

Once everyone started to celebrate victory, Vixxy fell to her knees and then her side. As her allies gathered around her, she tried to speak, but couldn't.  
All the GunWitch could do was close her eyes and take her goddess by the hand so she could lead her into her LONG rest.

Cliodne covered her mouth with her own hand.  
"She's...gone."

Finn couldn't believe it. He Refused to believe it. "What?"

"The GunWitch of Midoria...is dead."


	20. Revenge of the Abused

Chapter 20: Revenge of the Abused

Shaundi, still throwing a coniption fit, came stomping down the same dirt stairs that Piper and Keira Marie were dragged down. She was ranting non-stop while she kicked and tossed things over.

"What happened to you?" Carver asked. "You're....You're....Beautiful..."

The mortal Shaundi snorted. "Clearly you and I have two completely different views on beauty!" She snapped at Carver.

"I guess so." Carver muttered.

"Did I hear something?"

"No..."

Shaundi went over to a cracked mirror in the far hallway and observed herself, rather thoughroly. "My skin is dark, my hair and eyes are light..." She put her index and middle fingers on her neck, where her pulse was located and felt the beating. "I HAVE VITAL SIGNS AGAIN! Curse you GunWitch...Sacrificing your life for mortals..."

The words hit Piper and Keira Marie like a ton of bricks.  
They were now just clutched hard in Carver and Geoffry's hands, both man holding each one of them by the arms.

"V-V-Vixxy's..." Piper didn't want to finish.

"Dead?" Shaundi asked. "Yes! She killed herself just to turn me into this....this....simple form...."

"Could be worse." Carver said.

Shaundi seemed a cross from amused and ready to kill him. "Oh, really? HOW!?"

"She could have destroyed you." Carver answered.

"Yeah." Geoffry supported.

"She should have..." Keira Marie muttered.

Geoffry heard her. "SHUT UP!" He yelled, smacking her over the back of the head.

................................................................................................

Dark Ace came back from the ruined building they passed before with a white sheet.  
"A little bit cliche, I know, but...It's all we can do for her...for now."

He placed the sheet over Vixxy's peaceful corpse. Soon she was under the sheet and Cliodne said a prayer, finishing it with: "Hecate guide." Marilyn repeated the two words and they got up.

"We still need to find Shaundi and save Piper and Ava." Aerrow said, he then gave his head a shake. "I mean....Keira Marie."

Dark Ace sighed. "Aerrow...Keira Marie said you can still call her 'Ava'."

"I know..." Aerrow said. "But she's not Ava anymore, She's your Keira Marie."

"Yes." Dark Ace said. "She's mine, not Geoffry's...the girl, she's yours..." He turned to the others. "Stay here with Vixxy. Aerrow and I are going in alone."

"How do we know you two won't kill eachother halfway there?" Gail asked.

"Believe it or not, Gail." Aerrow said. "But he and I worked as a team before..."

"On Midoria." Dark Ace finished. "Just don't spread it around..."

"Keep a watch on him." Aerrow said, gesturing towards Finn, who was sitting by the sheet, starring at it in disbelief...as the rest of the Storm Hawks were.

"I can't believe Vixxy's really gone..." Finn said. "And to save us."

"Not 'us', Blonde one." Cliodne said. "She died to save 'you', her Oracle."

Dark Ace and Aerrow left the others behind and followed Shaundi down undernieth the tree.

........................................................................................................

Piper and Keira Marie were lead to a small cavern, very much like Banshee's Pass on Terra Midoria. Shaundi relieved Carver and Geoffry of them and took them over to the middle of the large, empty citital. After tying thier hands again, infront of them this time, she sat them down, side by side, by the wall.

A Deadling, the same one as before hobbled as fast as she could towards Shaundi, tripping over her ripped dress a couple times. She started 'speaking' to Shaundi again. Clearly, the Deadlings still served her and she seemed happy with this. She, however, was NOT happy with the news she was getting.  
"Dark Ace and Aerrow...Coming here?"

"Dark Ace and Aerrow...Working together?" Carver sounded shocked.

"If they have good enough motives..." Kiera Marie started.

Geoffry cut her off. "You just don't know when to shut your trap, do you?"  
He raised his arm at her, making her hold her bound hands over her head, cowering.

"GEOFFRY!" Shaundi objected. "NO! BEAT HER TO DEATH FOR ALL I CARE WHEN CARVER AND I LEAVE..."

"Where are we going?" Carver asked her.

"We are going to wait near the Covenant camp..." She answered.

"But-"

"You'll get your time with Aerrow of the Storm Hawks... I promised...Didn't I?"

Carver followed Shaundi out. After a long silence, Geoffry untied Keira Marie and tossed her forward, violently.  
"Okay, Ava. On your feet!"

Piper watched in horror as the scared Talon scrambled to her feet and Geoffry closed in on her like a wild beast. "Leave her alone!" She yelled.

"Shut up!" Geoffry said. "You're next!"

Geoffry seized Keira Marie by the arms and threw her onto her back. It was the past all over again...She was just waiting for the rest to come...  
She stood up, just to get punched in the forehead and knocked back down.  
After afew minutes of laying in a hazy collage of Geoffry's cussing, flashbacks of the past and Piper's yelling, something inside Keira Marie snapped.

She stood up again and with a tiwst, took the stud out of her nose and placed it in her pocket. She cracked her neck and raised her fist, striking a combatent's pose.  
Geoffry laughed. "Aint this cute? You gonna fight me, Ava?" He suckerpunched her in the nose. It was a good thing she took the stud out. Keira Marie went down with a thud. "You're still nothing but that scared little woman who used to hide from me under the kitchen table!"

Keira Marie spat out blood and stood up again. "Not....anymore..."  
She lundged forward to punch him, but he grabed onto her hand and repelled her offence. After spitting out more blood, Keira Marie got up again and this time managed to hit Geoffry.  
She pulled his arm streight and roundhouse kicked him three times in the side of the ribs, flipping him over. Piper swore she heard his arm crack.

Geoffry's arm broke. "Think you're tough now?" He asked, right before Keira Marie hit him in the bottom jaw with her heel. "OUCH! GOD! That freakin' hurts! Stop that!"

Keira Marie scoffed. It sounded like a cross between a scoff and a choak actaully.  
"Funny...That sounds VERY familier to me...." She kicked him in the ribs while he was down. "I remember this...'Stop it, Geoffry!' 'Please stop.' 'It hurts, Geoffry!'" She kicked him again. Clearly raging now.

"Okay...I'm sorry-"

"'I'm sorry, Geoffry!' 'Forgive me, Geoffry!'" Keira Marie started to cry out of her rage. "Dark Ace is right...The Cyclonians never turned me into what I am today, Geoffry." She let him get up. "You did...You changed my view of Sky Knights permanently, sucked all the self-confidence right out of me...You beat Ava to death, and then I was re-borned as Keira Marie." Geoffry grabbed her ar, but she broke free.  
"I don't belong to you anymore...I'M NOT AFFRAID OF YOU ANYMORE!"

She attempted to kick him again, but he grabbed her leg(with his good arm) and held it to his side.  
"You should still be..." He growled right before he rammed his elbow down into Keira Maries knee. It cracked like a gunshot and she screamed loud enough to put both Gail and Shaundi to shame.  
Keira Marie hobbled around on her broken leg until she fell over. "What was for my arm." Geoffry said, kicking Keira Marie on her back and sitting on top of her. "Now, I;m gonna take back what's mine...Ava."

Piper knew what was coming next. She chewed through the vines binding her hands and grabed the biggest rock she could find. After the rock struck his head, Geoffry turned to Piper, giving Keira Marie the opprotunity to punch him in the side of the head. She took it and knocked him right off her.  
Piper then grabbed a bigger rock, one she had to hold with both arms and held it above her head. She was threatening to drop it on Geoffry's head.

"What? You gonna kill me, little Storm Hawk girl?" He scoffed. "Do it...I DARE ya!"

Piper hesitated and when Geoffry tried to grab her foot, she paniced and dropped it, crushing his head into the stone ground.  
Keira Marie breathed hard. "You dared her..."

Piper ran over to Keira Marie, who struggled to sit up. "You okay?"

"I don't think so." Keira Marie said between her teeth. "I think he broke my leg."

"Can you move it?"

"No..." Keira Marie took her nose stud back out of her pocket and made sure it was clean. "Can you help me get this back in before the hole closes?"

"Okay..." Piper took the stud and felt her stomach gurgle as she slid it into the hole in Keira Maries nostril.  
"Now, we better get out of here before Shaundi and Carver come back."

"Just leave me here and go get help." Keira Marie said.

"No." Piper said, as she grabbed Keira Maries arm and hoisted it to her shoulder. She then helped her stand, Keira Marie winced, but Piper helped her stay stable. "This is for what you did for me on Mirdoria..." Piper said as they started walking.

Keira Marie smiled. "Wait, Piper...Take me back to Geoffry."  
Piper hesitated, but did as Keira Marie asked of her. After Keira Marie spit on what was left of Geoffry, she stated that she felt better and Piper turned around to pack her out.


	21. Family Secret

**Note from the Author:**

**Sorry for the LONG wait....LOL. Try being a girl trying to graduate high school with pushy parents!!!**

Chapter 21: Family History

Dark Ace and Aerrow were prepared for the worst, that was for sure. They walked back to back, one moving forward and the other backwards down the dark hall, blue and red light from thier blades lighting the way. Aerrow looked like he was about to say something until Dark Ace shushed him moments before.  
Without a word, Dark Ace killed his light and ducked in a dark corner, Aerrow, fearing Shaundi, did the same thing.

But, Shaundi didn't come down the hall. The shadows turned into Piper, still supporting Keira Marie with her shoulder. Keira Marie was telling her a story as she staggered along. "To tell you the truth, Piper...Um...I never wanted to marry Geoffry...I always loved Dark Ace...His name was Thorn at the time..."

"Then why'd you marry that jerk?" Piper asked her.

"To please my dad....and...he seemed like a nice guy at the time....and....Thorn understood, even though, he says nowadays, he regrets letting me go."  
It was true, Dark Ace regretted letting her get subjected to such abuse all those years ago everyday. Looking at Samara was the biggest reminder.

Aerrow popped out of the corner and Piper and Keira Maries screams echoed down the halls.  
"Girls! I'm sorry!"

"Aerrow?" Piper breathed.

"You have NO idea what we just went through!" Keira Marie snapped. "NEVER do that again!"  
Dark Ace then stepped out and the same thing happened. Piper and Keira Marie this time held eachother as they screamed.

"Keira Marie." Dark Ace said, taking her off of Piper. "What happened to you?"

"Geoffry broke her leg and...." Piper started as Keira Marie wrapped her arms around Dark Ace's shoulders to keep her balance. She couldn't continue...

"What Piper?" Aerrow asked.

"He tried...to...I'll say the word...RAPE me." Keira Marie said. Dark Ace almost dropped her in shock, then was snapped out of it when Keira Maries nails dug into his shoulders. He held her by the back again. It looked like they were hugging, but Keira Marie's legs didn't work. "But Piper..."

Piper started to cry. "I KILLED him..."

"Don't worry, Piper..." Keira Marie said from Dark Ace's arms. "The first kill is always the hardest."

"Will I be a serial killer someday?" Piper wept.

"Hopefully not." Keira Marie said. "Only if you kill again, and again, and again, and again-"

"-Till you put Shaundi to shame." Dark Ace finished.

"I think I'm gonna throw up..." Piper groaned.

"Don't worry...That'll never happen." Aerrow said to Piper. "Lets get out of here..."

Piper then remembered what Shaundi had said before. "Aerrow! Is it true? About....About Vixxy?"

"I'm afraid so." Aerrow said.

"Poor Finn."

"Vixentina died to save us from Shaundi...But all she could do was make her less of a threat by turning her mortal until the sunsets." Dark Ace said.

.................................................................................................................................

Since Keira Marie was in too much pain to be lifted up and carried, Dark Ace had to pack her with one arm over his shoulder, like Piper did. However, Dark Ace found it easier, since he was taller then Keira Marie, and Piper was shorter.  
After the lengthly walk out of the tunnels, they reached the group again, nobody had moved.

Finn had taken Vixxy out from under the sheet to cradle her in his arms. "I can't believe Vixxy's really gone." Finn said. The sad part was this was the fifteenth time he'd repeated that. Piper and Keira Marie were no less mortifyed by Vixxys pale, peaceful form. She looked like a sleeping, gothic angel with her clear, white face and black eyes. When Piper opened one of her eyes, it was pale and expressionless, like dead eyes would be.

"We must go." Cliodne said. "Back to the camp..."

Since Dark Ace had to pack Keira Marie, Junko, feeling remorse for Finn, volenteered to carry Vixxy back.

.................................................................................................................................

It was not a pleasant reunion with everyone else. When Ravess and Snipe were devistated Vixxy was dead, everyone else was panicing that the GunWitch was dead and they had no protecter.  
Dark Ace brought Keira Marie to the medic. He poked at Keira Maries knee: "This where it hurts?"

"OWWWW! YES!" She screamed.

Aerrow climbed on top of Cliodne's hut to get everyone's attention.

"Listen to me, everyone!" He shouted out, but everyone was too panicy. "C'mon everybody....I....I need to....It's gonna be....QUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!"  
Once everyone was quiet and looking up at him, Aerrow continued. "Thank you...Now, Vixxy may be gone and Terra Midoria, Salemdor and Dota are now vulnerable to The Salemdor Witch..." Everyone started to panic again. "BUT, BUT, BUT. EVERYONE, SHUT UP!!" Everyone calmed again. "Thanks. But, we have more witches, wizards-"

"We prefer "Warlocs" over "Wizards"!" One Salemdorian stated from the back of the crowd Aerrow had drawn.

"Right. Warlocs. Sorry." Aerrow said. "We have more witches, WARLOCS, banshees. We out number Shaundi. We can't let Vixxy die in vain! We....You must rise!" Aerrow noticed that Dark Ace, Ravess, Snipe and Keira Marie (who now had a brace on her leg and was walking on crutches) were now listening to him. He kept going. "Think of your brothers and sisters that Shaundi murdered, all those years ago and recently on Gallis Hill! Are you gonna let her get away with it?" The crowd cheered. "Next time Shaundi attacks, what will we do?"

"Retaliate!!!" Was the responce. "DOWN WITH THE WITCH!"

Then, Shaundi appeared right behind Aerrow. "Aerrow..." She said. "You are starting a rally against your own family?"

Those words hit Aerrow (and everyone else) like a truck. "WHAT?!"

"Yes, Aerrow." Shaundi said, Carver standing behind her. "We are family..."


	22. The Ghosts

Chapter 22: The Ghosts

"I can't believe this!" Aerrow said to Shaundi. "I WON'T believe this!"

Aerrow didn't even dwell on how Carver got there, he had a feeling that Shaundi must have broken him out of the Terra Atmosia stockade. The two just smiled thier mirthless smiles at Aerrow and it gave him chills how what a perfect couple they were.  
"It's true, Aerrow...I am you great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great-" Shaundi started to count her fingers. "-great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmothers neices sister."

"Jeez, is that all?" Carver muttered to himself.

"Did I hear something?" Shaundi asked over her shoulder.

"Nope."

Aerrow laughed at how only a few days and Shaundi already had bad boy, Carver broken in.  
Shaundi and Aerrow just starred at eachother until something blue and fast hit Shaundi in the side of the arm, making her scream in pain for a couple seconds before healing. It was one of Finns arrows from his crossbow.  
"That was for Vixxy!" Finn shouted.

In a flash, Shaundi was off the roof and infront of Finn. She spectrally teleported. "First off," She said pointing at Finns face, almost poking him right between the eyes. "The GunWitch killed HERSELF. If I was going to kill her right there, I would have done it...not play her silly little spell casting game."

In anger, Piper, staff in hand, charged at Shaundi, in an attempt to attack her from behind. Shaundi, without warning, turned around with her own staff. Her wavey, now sandy colored hair hit her in the face and her eyes now a smokey color. She blocked Piper and spun around to point at Aerrow. "GET HIM, CARVER!"  
Aerrow couldn't even blink before he had Carver on him.

Piper realized that Aerrow and Shaundi had the same reflexes. "How could I be Aerrow and Keira's ancestor's relative if I myself wasn't a Sky Knight?" Shaundi asked her with a smirk.

"Dark Ace!" Keira Marie cried, balancing on her crutches. "Help Aerrow, please."

"Okay." Dark Ace said. "Ravess, Snipe. Get her to safety!"  
Normally, Keira Marie would say no way and help Ace out...but she clearly couldn't fight with a broken leg and she knew it, so she just retreated with Ravess and Snipe, and a few more Talons.  
Meantime, the two battles between Aerrow, Carver, Piper and Shaundi raged on as everyone else ran for cover.

"We gotta help Aerrow!" Junko cried. "Carver's not that hard to take care of!"

"Ummm.....Correction." Stork said. "He WASN'T that hard to take care of..."

"Now that he has Shaundi on his side..." Star stated.

"...There's no stopping him...." Night finished.

"Someone tell me what she wants with Carver." Finn said.

"Compainionship?" Night sujested.

"I mean, he IS awefully appealing." Star added.

"That's not funny, girls." Stork said, grimly.

"Who said they were trying to be funny?" Moon asked in her innocent 9 year old tone.

Piper was cut and bleeding, Shaundi, not even scathed.  
"Piper!" Aerrow called, while blocking Carver. "How are you doing?"

"Why?" Piper asked mostly to herself. "Not even once..."

"Having trouble hitting me, Piper?" Shaundi asked with a mirthless giggle.  
Piper then realized that Shaundi was above her skill at combat. So she tried Sky Fu. Piper round house kicked and struck Shaundi in the side of the hip.  
Shaundi retaliated. She made a fist and punched Piper in the forehead, knocking her out cold. This got Aerrow's attention, Piper's body distracted Aerrow for a second. That second got him hit in the temple. Aerrow got himself knocked out.

..................................................................................................................................

Aerrow opened his eyes to pitch darkness.  
What did Shaundi and Carver do? Where was he? Where was the others?  
These questions, among others raced through Aerrows mind.  
Piper then passed his mind. He called her name. No answer. Just the darkness.

"Sky Knight Aerrow." A girls voice said.  
Aerrow turned around to see a transparent girl in a torn grey dress. Her hair was brown and up in a messy bun. Her pale blue eyes shone through the holes of the iron mask. "I'm Julia." She said.

Aerrow gasped. "The REAL Julia?"

"Yes." The girl said. "Shaundi caught me off guard, took me to her hide away in the forest, killed me and took my place. She killed my father later."

Aerrow looked around, hundreds, thousands of ghosts appeared around him. All of Shaundi's victims. In the front of the ghostly crowd was the depressing site of 500 children, no older then six, iron masked. The 500 adult victims behind. The Mayor and his daughter made 1002 dead.  
The mayor of Salemdor stepped forward. He was the only ghost without and iron mask. "This is all my fault. I was such a fool not to realize that the girl was not my daughter and I killed our only source of protection."

"There are witches and warlocs left on the terra, Mayor." Aerrow said. "You didn't kill them ALL. Marilyn and the Covenant led all the lucky ones into the forest and took cover." He paused. "Shaundi never bothered them until we showed up..."

"Don't blame yourself or your Storm Hawks, Sky Knight." The ghost mayor said. "Odds are she would have found them as soon as she had enough power."

"The mean lady must be stopped, Sky Knight." One of the little girls said through the metallic mass on her face. Her hair in blonde, blood-stained braids.

"How?" Aerrow asked. "The sun will be going down soon."

"Suck the remainder of her Screamer powers right out of her." A familier witch said. Vixxy. Wendelin right behind her.

"Vixxy. How can we stand a chance against Shaundi without you?" Aerrow cried.

Vixxy chuckled. "You`re not completely skrewed without me and I`m sorry for leading you all to think that."

"All you need is to go to Shaundi`s hideaway in the forest, where she did all her child killing and find a small trunk." Wendelin showed a ghostly hologram of a small, fancy looking roan red trunk. "In this trunk, Shaundi keeps a medallion." The trunk disappeared and a golden medallion took its place. The medallion was golden and shiney with an engravement of what looked like a saber-toothed tiger with wings and a scorpions tail on it. "Aerrow. You and the Storm Hawks find this medallion and destroy it. Once you do that, Shaundi will become no more than a mere witch."

"Once you do that, all these innocent souls will be freed." Vixxy finished. As everything started to go black to Aerrow, Vixxy said one more thing.

"Aerrow...Tell Finn, Goodbye..."

..........................................................................................................................................................................

"Aerrow." Piper`s voice said. "Wake up, please..."

Aerrow opened his eyes and Radarr jumped for joy. Cliodne beamed.  
"See? He`s just fine."

Aerrow shot up in the bed. "Shaundi!"

"It`s alright, Aerrow." Cliodne said. "We fought her and her mortal friend off. What`s she doing with what she hates the most is the question...."

"I know how to beat Shaundi, Cliodne!" Aerrow said. "The medallion!"

Cliodne flinched. "How do you know about our medallion?"


	23. A First Survivor

**Note from the author:**

**I must warn you....this is the chapter where the language picks up...Jusat so you know if any words jump out at you....**

...............................................................................................................................

Chapter 23: A First Survivor

Everyone who was listening to Aerrow talk about what he'd seen thought he went crazy. However, Cliodne exclaimed that ghosts can meet you halfway through in death and stop you from passing over.

Aerrow stopped and looked at Cliodne. "I....almost _died_?"

"Yes." Cliodne said. "The one they call 'Carver' would have decapitated you, had the Dark Ace not stepped in, child."

"You're welcome..." Dark Ace thundered from the wall he leaned against, Keira Marie still on crutches beside him. Aerrow just glarred.

"Cliodne..." Aerrow asked. "You knew Shaundi back in the day...Is she REALLY my ancestors relative?"

"I'm sorry, Aerrow..." The druidess breathed. "Yes...She is in you and Keira Marie's bloodline..."

"Wait a second." Keira Marie said. "If that's true, then how come Aerrow's not a warloc and I'm not a witch?"

"Who knows." Cliodne answered. "Somewhere in the everlasting timeline that is your family tree, someone had children with a mortal, and that half breed-pardon the term-repeated the action with another mortal."

Everyone else seemed to understand, but Snipe mused: "Huh?" to the druidess.

Dark Ace dumbed it down. "A witch or warloc had babied with a mortal and then that half bred child got together with another mortal, thus cancelling out the magical bloodline in Keira Marie and Aerrow."

"That's why we're mortal and not magical." Keira Marie finished.  
Snipe still looked like he didn't understand, but nodded anyways.

"So what about this medallion?" Piper asked. "Cliodne....You said it was yours..."

"It was." Cliodne answered. "It belonged to me and Shaundi as children. I gave it to her before her....her trial...I told her that I would find her in the forest if she kept the medallion....She must have burried it somewhere and...."

"Then how are all the souls of the people she killed and executed trapped in it if she burried years ago?" Aerrow asked.

"She must have been planning to do what she did and cast a spell on it before she died..." Cliodne said. "If you want to destory the medallion....You'll need to find it first."

"She wanted to murder?" Piper asked. "I thought she reverted to murder after she realized blood rejuvinates magical skin..."

"Her first victims was her mother and father..." Cliodne said, rather darkly. "She ripped a leg off the kitchen table and beat them with it...After each kill she became more and more consumed by the Screamers spirit....The Deadlings she produced got uglier and uglier...."

"Now, their heads look like over sized turnips...." Marilyn gasped. "That's a fate worse then death by Shaundi's wrath in my books....Out of her 500 children she killed...only five of them were idenified...The adults that weren't burned revently....None." The medallion came back to mind. "How do you even plan on getting to this medallion, Piper?"

Piper paused. "Uhhhh....Aerrow?"

"We go to Shaundi and get her to tell us where it is!" Aerrow said triumphently.

Cliodne, burst out laughing, an odd thing for a Merbian to do. "Shaundi? Please. You'll all be dead as soon as you step on her land."

"That or not..." Aerrow said. "Cliodne...We need to find her." When the druidess just turned her back, Aerrow turned to the other magicals. "Does anyone know where Shaundi's lair is? Anyone?"

"The only one who would know fully is whoever went into her house..." Cliodne said. "However...Nobody who went in that house...ever came out alive..."  
A golden Merb walked over to Cliodne and started talking to her.

"There must be something we can do for them, sister." Aimee Adolpha said. She had fully healed and traded the rags she was wearing before for a nicely sewed grey dress.

"No." Cliodne said. "I repeat....There is NO one who has gone into that house and came out alive!"

Just then, someone stumbled out of the forest brush and startled everyone. Keira Marie jumped and and fell sideways on her crutches, Ravess jumped into a warlocs arms and Dark Ace drew his blade before realizing it was a Talon.  
This Talon was cut and bleeding bad, his blonde hair was mangled and festooned with dried blood, mud, dirt and some twigs from trees, his goggles broken almost in half, he just took them off and threw them to the ground. Before falling to his knees, he vomited on the ground below him.  
Dark Ace ran to his comrades side.  
"My God....Where did you come from?" He asked.

The Talon coughed and vomitted more before saying: "....Hell. It's in the form of a broken down old shack in the middle of the Black Forest!" He pointed a shaking hand at the forest where he came before fainting. His head hit the ground with a thud.

"You don't think..." Piper said to everyone who was listening.

"I think we have the first survivor of the Salemdor Witch." Keira Marie said. "Do you think he can lead us to her lair, Ace?"

"We'll never know unless we get this Talon some help." Dark Ace responded.

"Bring him here!" Cliodne called, going into her cabin. "He's most likely inches from death."

....................................................................................................................................

Meanwhile, in a flash of bright light, Shaundi arrived to where she wanted to be through her magical jump. Carver was latched onto her arm, stark pale. "Please, don't to that again..." He moaned.

Shaundi pushed her hair, black again, back from her face before prying Carver off of her. "You did well for a mortal. Most vomit the first time teleporting, magical and mortal alike."

Carver gagged, trying to avoid the very action Shaundi was talking about. "I can't imagine....why." He breathed.  
After he pulled himself together, Carver took a look around. They were in a cemetary. "A graveyard? Why?"

"I live here." Shaundi responded, walking up the nearby hill.

"Surprise, surprise." Carver muttered to himself. "A gothic chick who lives in a graveyard...And who kisses you when she has no feeling for you whatsoever."

"Like I told you, Magicals kiss eachother all the time." Shaundi said. "Its a sign of kinship to us."

"Then what's-if you don't mind me asking-a sing of relationship to you people?"

Shaundi turned around to Carver, who was following her up the hill.  
"Sex." She said. "I'll show you a sign of affection when I lay down for you...If I ever do, that is"

The word metaphorically smacked Carver in the neck. He nodded. "Makes sense..."  
He followed her all the way to the other side of the hill after Shaundi uttered something about ginormous spiders.


	24. Shane and Cyrus

Chapter 24: Shane and Cyrus

It was an intense couple of hours. Cliodne used all her powers and skills to save the Talon from dying. Once he regained conscousness, he asked her why she didn't just let him die.

"Shane." Keira Marie said to the Talon. "You are the only one to survive the wrath of the Salemdor Witch in....thousands of years."

"Correction." Marilyn said. "He's the only one to survive the wrath of the Salemdor Witch....ever."

"Hey, what about me?" Dark Ace spoke. "I don't get a spot in the books, but gental Shane does?"

"She merely froze you." Cliodne said. "Compairing that to what she usually does and could have done...She was merely playing with you and your loved one." The druidess gestured towards Keira Marie.  
Dark Ace pouted.

"Shane? Can you tell us what you remember?" Ravess asked.

"Well..." Shane began. "I don't remember much....Dawn and Janie..."

"What happened to Dawn and Janie?" Keira Marie asked.

"The girls...." Shane shuttered. "She....killed them and harvested thier blood...It was horrific! Please, don't make me continue...."

"Shane..." Dark Ace sighed. "Please tell us atleast where you were."

"How would I know for sure?" Shane asked. "I got out of that house and ran for it."

"That's understandable." Piper said before crossing over to Keira Marie. "He's sensitive, isn't he?"

"Very..." Keira Marie answered. "Its hard believe he's still single..."

* * *

It was all too clear that Shane wouldn't remember where he was or how he got there, so Dark Ace, Keira Marie, Ravess and Snipe all met with Marilyn, Cliodne and Sasharissa about what was to be done.  
"We need a telepath." Marilyn said. "That's what we need!"

Dark Ace and Keira Marie looked at eachother. "Cyrus."

"Cyrus?" Aerrow asked from behind.

Keira Marie turned her head. "Aerrow. Are you spying on this meeting?"

"Us Storm Hawks are in this too, Ava." Aerrow said. "We have the right to know whats going on."

Keira Marie looked at Dark Ace. "He has a point, Ace..."

Dark Ace and Aerrow shot eachother the regular dirty look. Then, Dark Ace nodded.  
A witch came to Marilyn and said two Talons arrived from Terra Nimbus. The group exited Cliodne's cabin, Keira Marie hobbling behind on the crutches.  
Outside there was two Talons who arrived on horseback, the main way of travel on Salemdor, a man and a woman, very young, cleary twins(excluding that the male twin had blonde hair and the female-white).  
"The girl one..." Dark Ace said. "It's Hazel."

"Nice to see you again, sir." Hazel said. "I'm sorry we met under the wrong circumstance before..."

"No worries, Hazel." Keira Marie said with a smile. She looked at Aerrow. "Don't ask..."

"What can I do?" Cyrus asked Dark Ace.

"How did you..." Dark Ace sighed. "Oh, your the telepathic one."

"Yes." Cyrus said. "Hazel is telekentic."  
Hazel nodded.

"Prehaps they can help..." Cliodne said.

"Yes," Cyrus said. "We want to help with The Screamer threat."

"And, more imortantly, get Carver back behind bars." Hazel added.

"I like her." Aerrow said.

"Cyrus-" Ravess started.

"You need me to read Shane's mind and find out what I can about where he was..." Cyrus said.  
Everyone nodded.

Cyrus and Shane went to Cliodne's cabin and Shane sat down on a chair, Cyrus sat on another one across from him.  
Cyrus placed his hands on Shanes temples and closed his eyes, concentrating. He told Shane to relax as vivid visions of Shaundi slaughtering two Talon girls, a blonde and a redhead flashed through his mind.  
The two Talons were Dawn and Janie, the two Shane was with. She seemed to crush Janie's body with a stone plate, clearly from her time and strangled Dawn with her bare hands. Cyrus' vision ended with the scene of a cemetary and the dying screams and Janie and Dawn...

* * *

Cyrus opened his eyes. He was panting, Shane was crying.  
"A cemetary." Cyrus said.

"A cemetary?" Aerrow asked.

"A cemetary!" Cliodne said. "That's where she's been hiding. In the old moselium."

"Let's go get her!" Finn said. "Let's not let Vixxy die in vain."

"You've never delt with this kind of evil before." Gail stated.

"Yes we have." Aerrow said. "We defeated you, didn't we?"

"First off, Aerrow." Gail laughed. "Stork defeated me...and I was a Banshee...She is a Screamer....Much more dangerous."

After a long hesitation, Aerrow said: "I'm....We're not giving up. We're gonna find her and destroy that medallion...Just like Vixxy said!"

"Then let us plan our strike." Cliodne said.


	25. Ambush at the Crypt

Chapter 25: Ambush at the Crypt

It was agreed that Shaundi was going to be a formidable enemy and Vixxy's absence was going to make things much more difficult. The Storm Hawks (exept Stork) prepared to leave.  
Cliodne approached Aerrow.  
"We will be mentally in contact. If you need any help at all, just call whoever you need." She said.

"Thanks." Aerrow said, mounting his skimmer.

"You know, Aerrow," Keira Marie said, hobbling over. "You don't have to go up against Carver and Shaundi-"

"Yes, we do." Aerrow said. "If we don't stop Shaundi, who will? Everyone else has failed."

"Epicly, may I add." Piper said from her heliscooter.

Sasharissa approached on a brown horse. "Ready to go?" She asked. All the Storm Hawks nodded. "I'll take you as far as the Forest's west wing, no farther."

"That's very kind of you, Sasharissa." Piper said. "Its much appriecitated."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Aerrow said.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Piper stated.

"Bring her on!" Finn said bitterly. "It's time to burn a real witch!"

"Lets go this." Junko added. "For Vixxy!"

Radarr growled as the Storm Hawks all repeated together.  
"FOR VIXXY!"

Dark Ace walked over to Aerrow. "Listen, you....I normally wouldn't give you advice....But...Watch yourself out there. You mean alot to Keira Marie..."

"Thanks..." Aerrow replyed.

"Don't get used to this...." Dark Ace snickered as he walked away.  
Cliodne crossed over to Aerrow one more time.

"Remember, Sky Knight, call if you need help." She said. Aerrow nodded. "One more thing..."

"What?"

"Keep a close watch on the GunWitch's Oracle..."

"Finn?"

"Yes. Finn is in an irrational state of mind and he may attack Shaundi without thinking it over."

"Isn't that the point?"

"You don't understand." The Druidess cried. "Shaundi has gained status as a dangerous serial killer....She will attack Finn without thinking it over and if he dies...Hecate can never return Vixentina to us and the Atmos will be vulnerable to demonic, occult and supernatural threats."

Aerrow had never thought of it that way. He nodded again. "Understood, Cliodne. Thank you."

"Bless." Cliodne replyed. "Good luck. Shaundi will be unlike any enemy you've faced before, and once you get the Screamer itself out of her...Oh, Goddess...Gather your Squadron..."

"Hawks." Aerrow called. "Come."  
The Storm Hawks all gathered in a group around Cliodne.

"Remember this, Storm Hawks, because it's very important." She said. "Shaundi, herself is a very stunning individual...But the creature that dwells inside her, the creature that you will drive out of her will without a doubt be the most horrific thing you've ever layed eyes on...When you see the Screamer, the site will make you want to scream and express your horror, like any other mortals...You musn't scream...The Screamer does not get its name by how it summons its brethren...It gets its name because it makes the first one to scream at it its host."

"But-" Piper began.

"I know what you're about to say....and I wasn't fully honest with the fact about Shaundi's undoing..." Cliodne hung her head. "The truth is...Shaundi and I were both scrappers as young witches. We commited a series of crimes throughout Salemdor....Once Shaundi became the Sky Knight of Salemdor, the first female Sky Knight in the Atmos, she held her position for a year and half, until the law came and took her away. No one knows how exactly, but it was said 'her record was against her' and she was tried and it was agreed that Death itself was too good for the 'crimes' she'd done.  
"I should have said something on her behalf, but I didn't. I just watched as they tied my best friends arms up to two poles, as if they were sacrificing her...They hypothetically were. The high preist approached Shaundi and read out the spell that summoned the Screamer. After that...he took the hot iron prod that branded the Screamers Mark upon her back, making her scream out of the creature possessed her..."

Aerrow stuttered. "You...You s-saw it?"

"Yes, I did." Cliodne finished her story. "The creature entered Shaundi's body through her opened mouth as she screamed. That's how they enter you, it happens so fast...She was then brought out into the forest..." The Druidess walked away.

"Cliodne?" Aerrow spoke.

"Good luck..." Cliodne said as she entered her cabin and shut the door.

* * *

Sasharissa brought Aerrow, Radarr, Piper, Finn and Junko to the forests west wing, like she said she would.  
" I cannot believe you children think you can do this yourselves." She said. "You're either very brave or stupid..."

"Thank you, Sasharissa." Piper said again.

"May Hecate not let you die." She replyed as she turned her horse around. "Where you need to be is just over this hill. Be careful."

"You be careful." Aerrow said.  
Sasharissa nodded and took off.

* * *

After a creepy walk through the cemetary and up to the old, broken down sorry excuse for a house reminded everyone of Gails old slaughterhouse on Midoria.  
"Everyone remember..." Aerrow wispered as the Storm Hawks approached the front door. "Shaundi is gonna be nothing like Gail was....She's gonna be worse..."

Aerrow slid the door open a crack and the stench of death hit everyone, almost knocking out thier sense of smell completely.  
"So that's what a crypt smells like? How can she live here?" Finn asked.

Once Aerrow opened the door all the way and blinked, something fast and heavy hit him and knocked him right off his feet and down the stone stairs. He opened his eyes and saw what was on him. Something that looked like it was human once, broken up skin and a deformed turnip for a head. Its ribs were out of its body and around Aerrow like a cage pinning him to the ground.  
The monster spoke in a squeamish jibberish that nobody could forget.  
"OH MY GOD!!!! A DEADLING!" Piper screamed.

"A Screamer's Deadling!" Finn shouted right before he shot it to death with his crossbow.

Aerrow stayed on the ground, shaking. "W-W-W-Why was its head like that!? That's not what they're supposed to look like!"

"Aerrow, remember what Gail said?" Piper said. "Screamers produce different Deadlings than Banshees...Worse ones...." Piper trailed off, Aerrow noticed as Finn and Junko hit the ground, passed out.

"Piper...." Aerrow said, standing up, feeling weak. "What's happening?"

"I-I don't know." Piper answered, staggering drunkenly before passing out herself.

Aerrow looked to his feet. "R-Radarr?"  
No answer, Radarr had passed out first.  
Aerrow dropped to his knees and supported himself with his hands. "Don't....sleep...."He got weaker and weaker and weaker. His vision started to blur out.  
Then, he heard an all too familiar voice.

"Go on, Aerrow....Just drop like the others..."

Aerrow struggled to lift his head and saw the blurry figures of Carver and Shaundi standing on the crypts front step. There was a greenish-blue aura around Shaundi's hands. She was casting a spell on Aerrow and all the Storm Hawks.  
Aerroe tried to call out for Gail, but as he breathed in, his head hit the ground as he fell into Shaundi's spell.


	26. The Temple of the Screamer Queen

Chapter 26: The Temple of the Screamer Queen

Aerrow felt like he'd been hit by a truck. He tried to get up, but he felt so heavy.  
"What happened?" He asked himself in the dark. Then he remembered Shaundi's spell.  
He heard voices talking....After a while, he identifyed the voices as Carver and Shaundi. He could soon hear them perfectly, but his vision was blurry.

"Please, Shaundi....Let me take him out while he's out!" Carver whinned.

"No." Shaundi replyed.

"Please, you have no idea how much I have it in for him!" Carver went on. "Now that he's unconscious, I can finally win!"

"No! You've tried and failed and tried and failed again. What makes you think I'll risk you messing it up again!" Shaundi shouted.  
Aerrow could now see them as blurred figures and thier words seemed to echo. "He'll be coming around soon, but I've placed another spell on the others...They'll be out until I say so."

Aerrow tried to open his eyes enough to see clearly, but also tryed to avoid Carver and Shaundi discovering he was awake.  
He layed there as still as he could until Carver and Shaundi grew suspitiously quiet. Aerrow opened the one eye closest to the floor and saw that Carver and Shaundi were nowhere in site. He opened his eyes and looked around.  
He didn't know where he was, but it looked like a temple of some sorts. Stoney walls and pillars, festooned with vines and seemed to be leaking water. In some areas, there were statues of a strong looking woman. In one of the monuments, she seemed to have snakes of all sizes wrapped around her,but not menacingly, more like they were her pets. The woman herself, seemed to have long, flowing hair and a long dress. Soon Aerrow realized, she wasn't wearing a dress, possibly little or no clothes at all. Her body below the waist was snake like.  
In the end of the area, there was the largest statue of the snake woman, infront of it was an alter, on the alter was Piper, still unconscious and wearing a worn tan colored dress.

"Piper." Aerrow groaned as he attempted to get up. His entire body cramped and his muscles locked until he layed on his back again.

"Careful." Shaundi's voice said, making Aerrow's heart jump. "If you try to get up too hard, you ould break every bone in your body." Aerrow looked for her, she was right beside one of the monuments to Aerrow's left. "It's called a Body Locking Charm."

"Where is the rest of the Storm Hawks, Shaundi?" Aerrow demanded.

He didn't faze her in the slightest. "Oh you needn't worry." She said. "Your Squardron is safe....For now atleast."

"What about Carver? You finally off him too and give him an onion for a head?"

"First off, dear cousin...My Deadlings have turnips for heads. Second..." Shaundi pointed to Aerrow right.  
he looked and there was Carver, leaning on a piller. He waved mockingly.  
Aerrow's attenion turned back to Shaundi and her attention turned to the statue she was by. "Hellah." She spoke. "My Goddess. Goddess of evil, death sin. Queen of the Screamers. I give her as many souls as she requests and she lets me keep the blood and promises me eternal beauty."

"You'll need all that beauty, Shaundi." Aerrow said. "You need it to hide how ugly you are on the inside!"

Shaundi looked very displeased and Carver started to walk towards Aerrow with his blade drawn. Shaundi held up her hand and he stopped.  
"Now, Aerrow....I suppose you're wondering why your Piper is here?"

"Leave her alone, Shaundi!"

Shaundi was clearly taking great pleasure in Aerrow's misery. "Leave her alone, Shaundi! Don't worry, Aerrow. I won't harm a hair on your lovely's head...Atleast not that badly..."  
Aerrow tried to get up again and pain pulsed through him again, this time in the form of a greenish-blue glow. "Don't bother, Aerrow. The spell cannot wear off, it can only be reversed."

"And you and I both know that you're not gonna turn it off." Aerrow growled.

Shaundi sneered. "Not with that attitude, cousin." She inched closer and closer to Piper.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Aerrow screamed. He then yelped in pain as the spell ran its chorus, the smallest muscle twitch was followed by pain. "What do you want with her?"

Shaundi smiled. "It's simple, really...I'm going to offer her soul to Hellah and turn her into a Screamer, like me." The words smacked Aerrow across the face. "She'll be like my daughter and I've always wanted a child to raise as my own, and Carver....Don't you say a word!"  
Aerrow looked over to Carver, who was closing his mouth.

Shaundi stood beside the alter where Piper was and started to speak:  
_Meus dea, Abyssus.  
Regina of screamers quod paluster of letalis men.  
Ego dico super vos is atrum nox noctis advenio-_

A purple spell hit Shaundi and sent her flying back and stunned her. Carver fled into the shadows, Cliodne stepped out, hands and eyes glowing purple, with the rest of the Storm Hawks, joined by Dark Ace behind her. Gail was floating above, an army of Zeeknopses underneither her feet.  
Zeeknopses her ugly demonic creatures with triangular shaped bodies and four branch-like legs and six eyes, three on each side of thier heads, which was also thier bodies. They eyes were red and glowing, almost machine-like. Gail has hundreds of them, among other things runnings around terrorizing Terra Midoria before.

Cliodne knelt beside Aerrow and ran her hand above his frozen body. _"Ego solvo vos_." She spoke. Aerrow then felt like a million pounds had been lifted off his body. He got up and thanked Cliodne. The druidess then ran over to Piper and did the same thing. _"Suscitatio parvulus. Ego solvo vos_."  
Piper opened her eyes and took a huge breath.  
Cliodne smiled at her. "I'm happy your all safe."

Piper smiled back, but her smile disappeared as a shadow grew behind Cliodne. Shaundi hooked Cliodne's neck with her staff. Cliodne retailiated with her own staff and sent Shaundi back again with another blast of purple.

"You are about to go the way of the GunWitch, Cliodne!" Shaundi shouted as she got back up.

"Storm Hawks....I'll hold her off." Cliodne said. "You and the Dark Ace go to the house and FIND THAT MEDALLION AND DESTORY IT!" The Storm Hawks and Dark Ace turned and ran into the shadows. Cliodne turned back to Shaundi. "Your reign ends NOW, Shaundi!"


	27. The Medallion

Chapter 27: The Medallion

Aerrow tripped and hit the concrete tiled hallway, Dark Ace grabbed him by the back of the shirt to get him back on his feet. "Get up, Kid!" He said. "Did you forget what kind of floor you're walking on?!"

Piper knew what he meant, since there were vines trying to wrap around her legs and face. "He has a point, Aerrow. We have to keep moving!"

While they ran further down the hall Aerrow noticed something was not right. "Dark Ace...Where's Keira Marie?"

"She stayed at the camp. I told her she was too injured to come." Was the answer.

"And she listened?" Aerrow remembered that the one thing that remained of Ava was the she was still a free spirited wild girl.

"I can be very persuaisive." Dark Ace said.

"Really?" Junko asked. "I always thought you were all whipped."  
Dark Ace did not look amused. The other Storm Hawks giggled.

When the group got to a cellar door, Dark Ace rammed it opened with his shoulder. Once all the other Storm Hawks were standing in Shaundi's house, Aerrow looked down at Dark Ace, who was down on one knee and clutching his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Listen, Aerrow." He replyed. "I saved your hide three times now. Pop my shoulder back into place."

"Ewwwww." Aerrow flinched.

"Just do it, dammit!"  
Aerrow grabbed Dark Ace's arm and pulled it while kicking his back away until he heard a loud crack. "Thanks." Dark Ace said. "Now you only owe me two."

"You're welcome." Aerrow said, echoing Dark Ace's words from Midoria. "I won't tell if you don't."  
Dark Ace nodded.

"Why haven't we seen any Deadlings yet?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, I thought we'd be up to our necks by now..." Finn added.

Dark Ace scratched at the back of his head. "You got me there..."  
At that moment, two female Talons, blonde and red head stumbled in from one of the hallways, they were all bloody and twitchy. The blonde had the medallion in her shaking hands. "Oh, my god. Dawn and Janie!"

The two girls looked up. "Dark Ace?" Dawn, the redhead clutching the medallion said.

"Girls! Are you okay? Shane said you were killed..."

Janie started to clutch her stomach. "We were...She put something in us..."

Dawn handed Dark Ace the medallion before dropping on the ground. Both of them started making all to familar sounds. Dark Ace tossed the medallion at Aerrow and drew a revolver, with great remorse, he shot Dawn and Janie through the heart. Killing them before they could fully transform into Deadling form.  
"Is it just me....Or has Shaundi gone too far?" Finn asked.

"She went too far decades ago." Piper said looking at what was left of the once beautiful Talons. Their head weren't turnip shaped, but they were torn and looked as if they would be in two or three more minutes.

"We need to destroy this thing." Aerrow said looking down at the medallion.

Just when Aerrow raised the medallion over his head to smash it on the ground, Carver snuck up from behind him and snatched it way. "Yoink!" He said before running off down the cellar door.

"HEY!" Aerrow screamed.

Dark Ace looked like he was about to go on a smacking spree. "Yelling out "hey!" is really gonna catch him, stupid!" He yelled at Aerrow. "He's taking the medallion back to Shaundi!"

"We have to stop him!" Piper screamed.

* * *

Cliodne hit the wall with enough force to crack it. She was seeing two Shaundi's. Which one was the real one? Gail was keeping Deadlings back with the aid of her Knopses. Cliodne got to her feet again and clutched her staff again. Shaundi spun hers and spoke:  
"You are weak, Cliodne....Just like your goddess...."

"Hecate is not weak!" Cliodne said, casting a spell at Shaundi.

She blocked it with ease. "Hellah has given me strength."

"Hellah has given you nothing more and nothing less then an ego and loss of your soul!"  
Shaundi hit Cliodne with a knock-back spell that sent her through the wall. Shaundi crawled through the hole as Cliodne was standing up again. "I know it's my fault...I'm sorry, Shaundi....I shouldn't have watched you die like that without doing something...."

"Sorry? I told you that sorry isn't nearly enough, Cliodne!" Shaundi said. "You damned me to decades and decades of pain and misery and what do you do? You live decades and decades as a Druidess. We were supposed to have that life together!"

"Yes, I know." Cliodne said. "We had best friend plans that were ruined by me."

"I'm going to kill you, Cliodne..."

Cliodne paused. "Then I'll have payed for my mistake..."

As Shaundi raised her staff, Carver appeared from the shadows.  
"Shaundi! I got the thingy!" He held up the medallion.  
Suddenly, Piper ran up from behind him and kicked him dead where it hurts.

Carver threw the medallion up over his head before squealing and going into a fetal position. Piper caught the medallion. "Ha! Mine now!"  
She tossed the medallion to Aerrow and he lost it when Shaundi attacked him.  
She lost it when Finn shot her in the back with his crossbow and sent her flying. He caught the medallion. "Chicka-cha! THAT WAS FOR VIXXY!" He then screamed his girl scream when a Deadling tackled him and grabbed the medallion. Junko punched the Deadling away and caught the medallion.  
Carver got up and knocked Junko away and grabbed the medallion, Stork then ripped it away and ran. Before Shaundi tackled him to the ground, Stork tossed the medallion to Radarr and he caught it in his mouth, until Carver got him by the scruff of the neck and ripped it away before dropping him again. Dark Ace interviened and wrestled with Carver for the medallion for a while, until Carver subdued him, knocking him out cold.

"Give it to me!" Shaundi ordered. Her black dress was grey with dust.

Before Carver could hand the medallion to Shaundi, Gail snatched it and threw it to Aerrow, who drew a blade and blasted the medallion into peiced.  
Gail landed and Shaundi dropped to her knees. The ghosts of all her victims, Vixxy included gathered around her as she clutched her stomach and moaned.

"She's trying to keep the Screamer in." Cliodne exclaimed. "She's grown so attached to it, she doesn't want to let it go!"

Shaundi threw her head back and screamed, her scream became less squeaky(like nails on a chalkboard) and more normal as she produced a black cloud. As she hit the ground, a form appeared in the black fog. A decayed woman that sat on her side and held herself up with her hands. It was the Screamer and the very site of her was gut-renching, it was hard not to scream, but everyone kept Cliodne's advise in mind. The Screamer looked around with white eyes. No irises or pupils, just all white. Her skin was pasty and torn up and her hair drapped over the entire left side of her face. Unable to find another host, she looked back at Shaundi, who was twitching and coughing and disappeared.  
Carver fled and all the ghosts looked towards Aerrow, the iron mask on each and everyone of them disappeared, revealing thier faces. They smiled at the Storm Hawks before disappearing.

Dark Ace shot up. "What happened?"

"We won." Cliodne said. She glanced down at Shaundi as they walked past her. "You brought this on yourself, my friend..."  
Cliodne took a crystal that even Piper had never seen before and held it to Shaundi, who disappeared into a purplish glow. "I trapped her in this crystal...She can't escape..."

"Let's get out of here." Piper said before everyone departed.


	28. It's Not Over

Chapter 28: It's Not Over

Everyone arrived back at the Camp and was greeted with happy magicals. Dark Ace left the crowd and Aerrow followed.  
"Where are you going so soon? We're heroes."

"I have to go get your sister." Dark Ace answered.

"Where is she?" Aerrow asked as Dark Ace entered his cabin and knocked on the top of a trunk.

"Hey!" Dark Ace said to the trunk. "I'm back...Did you miss me?"  
A muffled yell came from inside the large trunk and Aerrow couldn't believe it. Dark Ace unlatched the trunk and opened it and there was Keira Marie, she was tied up and her mouth was duct tapped. "Hi, honey." Dark Ace said innocently to be answered with an evil swint and a growl. "Oh, don't look at me like that." He said, lifting her out of the trunk and putting her on the floor. "This was for your own good."

Aerrow was speechless.  
Dark Ace gave Keira Marie back her freedom of speech to his own expence. "DARK ACE! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"I gave you the option to stay here and you never took it." Dark Ace to his defence.

"You didn't have to tie me up and put me in a trunk!"

"But-"

"I told you I could still fight and my leg wasn't that bad!"

"But-"

"You're so subborn! You're lucky I love you so much or I'd-"  
Dark Ace sighed and slapped the tape back over Keira Maries mouth, muffling her last few words.

"Is it like for you two all the time?" Aerrow asked.

"Only a couple weeks a month." Dark Ace answered.  
Keira Marie made two small sounds that sounded like "liar".

Aerrow left and when he closed the door, he heard a slapping noise and Dark Ace. "Ouch! I said I was sorry and it was unavoidable!"

"BULLSHIZNIT!" Keira Marie yelled. Boy was she angry.

Aerrow had the giggles all the way to Cliodne's tent. She was sitting at the table where her books and crystal ball was. She had the crystal in her hands and was gazing into it.  
"I'm sorry, Shaundi."

"Um, Cliodne?"

"Yes? C'mon, Sky Knight." Cliodne said, putting the crystal away. "You have questions?"

"Yeah." Aerrow said before sitting at the opposite side of the table.

"I'll answer to my very best."

"Why did Shaundi want to keep the Screamer? I mean, no offence to it, since it could be watching me and all, but that thing wasn't that attractive?"

"Once things such as Screamers and certain demons are bound to a human spirit, magical or mortal, they can be insufferably hard to unbind. In other words, child, Shaundi loved being a Screamer...They say having all that evil inside of you for a long enough time starts to feel good."

"It starts to empower you?"

"Yes. When it feels like its empowering, its really destroying you inside. With every innocent Shaundi killed, her soul blackened more and more."

Aerrow paused. "Cliodne, with the medallion gone, lets say Shaundi did come back, with the medallion gone, does that mean she can never become a Screamer again?"

"I fear, my boy, that there are ways she can call the spirirt back to her, but since it's non-rictual, going back to her is the Screamer's choice."

"You're positive that she can't break free of that crystal?"

Cliodne brought up the crystal again. "Shaundi is capable of many unimaginable things...I cannot be sure, Aerrow."

Aerrow paused again. "What about Carver?"

"I forsee that the one they call Carver will be captured later and put back where he belongs." It was Cliodne's turn to pause. "However, his bond with Shaundi is strong...as strong as you'd exepct from after an intimate relationship between them."

"So that means...."

"Oh, no, no, no." Cliodne said. "Shaundi has one fatal phobia....Child birth."

"Child birth?" Aerrow snickered. "I thought she wasn't afraid of anything."

"Every living creature has a weakness and a fear, Sky Knight." Cliodne laughed. "She witnessed her younger sister being born as a mid teen and has lived in mortal dread of child birth and the ways of causing it ever since."

"Wow." Aerrow said.

Finn and Piper, along with the rest of the Storm Hawks appeared in the doorway. "We have a question too." Piper said.

"Yes, children?" Cliodne said, inviting them to sit.

"Vixxy." Finn said. "She's gone forever and the magical Atmos is doomed to freeze over, isn't it?"

"Oracle." Cliodne said. "Storm Hawks....You all underestimate the power of magic, the power of the GunWitch and the power of Hecate herself." She paused. "Midoria's forecast is snow and ice, but not in apocalyptic proportions. Hecate wishes to speak with you...."  
With that, Cliodne's crystal ball glowed a greenish color and the fair skinned, black haired goddess's face appeared in it.

"Storm Hawks." She said, her voice echoed. "Oracle Finn. I have news for you. Since the GunWitch left the Atmos before her time, I have managed to bend the reality of death."

"How?" Finn asked.

"How?!" The goddess laughed. "I'm Hecate, Goddess of Witchcraft. When Vixentina is ready, I'll send her back to the Atmos. I'm a fraid I cannot tell you how long into the future that will be, however. And you must do your part, Oracle...You must stay alive. Also, I must warn all of you, including you, Cliodne...That crystal will not hold Shaundi, she is far too strong willed. Be warned, Storm Hawks...It's not over..."

Hecate disappeared and soon after, Mephist flew in and dropped a small bag on Cliodne's table before flying out again. Cliodne looked at the bag.  
"It has Finn's name on it."

She handed it to Finn and he opened it. Vixxy's necklace was inside.

"What happens now?" Piper asked.

"Go gather up the rest of your team, and I'll give you all the crystals you need to send you on your way." Cliodne said.

"What about you?" Junko asked.

"If Hecate is right, we will see eachother again." Cliodne said.

Everyone said thier goodbyes. Piper hugged her sister, Marilyn goodbye and Aerrow saw that Keira Marie had forgiven Dark Ace and was under his arm again. There was no surprise there.  
Before boarding the Condor, Stork walked over to Cliodne and nodded at her.

"Cousin." He said.

Cliodne smiled. "I knew you knew. In Vixxy's absence, Gail will be watching you. I gave Piper a crystal that can contact her. Don't exepect to have it easy for a while now. You're not even close to done with all this."

"Noted, cousin."

The Condor took off and the last goodbyes were waved.  
Once the large ship disappeared, Dark Ace and Keira Marie prepared to leave.

"Leaving so soon yourselves?" Cliodne asked.

"We have too." Keira Marie said, packing up her skimmer.

"Last time we left Samara alone with all the Talons for too long, she made them preform Macbeth for her entertainment." Dark Ace said.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Cliodne's cabin, the crystal that Shaundi was trapped in started to glow a bloody red.

* * *

**Note from the Author:**

**Well, that's the end of Dead Terra 2...What happens next? You'll have to stay tuned for Dead Terra 3: Darkest Before Dawn. **

**I'd like to thank my co-writer, SexySkyla66!!!  
Can't wait to start on number 3, Chels!!!! ^^**

**PLEASE R AND R!!**


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